Clashes have broken out between forces loyal to South Sudan’s opposition leader Riek Machar and government troops in Tonga, Panyikang County, according to a local official.

The fighting in Tonga involved the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) and the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), both part of the Necessary Unified Forces.

Panyikang County is located in Upper Nile State. It borders Malakal County to the north-east and Baliet County to the east. It also borders Pariang to the west, Jonglei State (Fangak and Pigi counties) to the south, and Sudan to the north.

Upper Nile’s Acting Governor, Deng Joh Angok, told Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday morning that the clashes began late on Tuesday.

“It is believed that SPLA-IO forces within the Necessary Unified Forces attacked their colleagues from the SSPDF at the camp in Tonga at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday,” Deng said.

He explained that tensions had risen after the SSPDF’s Division 2 command ordered its forces in Tonga to move to Malakal for armament. However, the SPLA-IO warned that any withdrawal of SSPDF troops from Tonga would trigger an attack.

“Last week, the SSPDF command under Division 2 ordered the Unified Forces—those aligned with the SSPDF—to move to Malakal for armament. But the SPLA-IO stated that if the SSPDF withdrew from Tonga to Malakal, they would be attacked. This is what happened, and our SSPDF forces pulled out of the camp after yesterday’s attack,” he said.

Deng, a member of President Salva Kiir’s SPLM party and head of Upper Nile’s security committee, said preliminary reports indicated at least two SSPDF soldiers in Tonga had been killed, with others fleeing to an unknown location.

The deputy governor also reported an attack on a government army unit stationed in Wunkur, near the border with the Ruweng Administrative Area.

“Our SSPDF forces withdrew from the Wunkur unified military camp this morning, and their whereabouts remain unknown after leaving the camp. These forces are part of the Necessary Unified Forces, but the SPLA-IO troops remained in the camp,” he said.

Separately, SPLA-IO troops withdrew from the Warjuok training camp, southwest of Malakal, on Wednesday morning.

“The Warjuok camp is exclusively for SPLA-IO forces, not the unified forces. The information we received is that the SPLA-IO forces withdrew from the camp this morning to an unknown location,” Deng said.

SPLA-IO commanders in Upper Nile could not immediately be reached for comment.

Upper Nile State has experienced heightened security tensions following the White Army’s takeover of a military barracks in Nasir, which resulted in the killing of an SSPDF general.

Meanwhile, near Juba, clashes were reported between SPLA-IO and SSPDF forces at the Rejef training center this morning, a day after fighting broke out in Wunliet and the Rambur center west of Juba.