The Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO) on Friday said it is holding nine Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) soldiers as prisoners of war following the capture of Waat town in Jonglei State.

According to the opposition group, which is allied to suspended First Vice President Riek Machar, its fighters overran Waat — the administrative centre of Nyirol County — after intense clashes with government forces on Wednesday.

Peter Gatkuoth Koang, the SPLA-IO-appointed commissioner for Nyirol County, said the soldiers were seized after the government military base in the area was overwhelmed. He noted that all the captives are in stable condition, although one soldier sustained an injury to the arm.

Koang said arrangements are underway to evacuate the wounded soldier to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) facilities in Lankien for medical treatment.

The opposition official also walked back an earlier statement claiming that the Waat garrison commander had been captured. He clarified that three SSPDF generals, including Brig. Gen. Kuot Atem, together with some troops, remain unaccounted for.

“Our forces believe these officers are hiding within the community. However, we have not been able to locate them because they are being sheltered by community members with marital connections to them,” Koang said, adding that negotiations are ongoing to ensure their safe surrender.

The SPLA-IO further claimed that more than 30 government soldiers were killed during the fighting and said it seized military hardware, including three tanks, in the process.

Two of the detained soldiers — Capt. Pagan Omot Anyakwei and Sgt. Morris Charles Juma — separately told Radio Tamazuj that they are being treated humanely in captivity.

Capt. Pagan said he and others fled into the community after their base fell before being apprehended by SPLA-IO forces. “We are now with them and are being treated with dignity,” he said.

Sgt. Juma, from the SSPDF’s Mechanized Division, also confirmed that he was captured on Wednesday and described the conditions of detention as calm and respectful.

Efforts to obtain comment from SSPDF spokesperson Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang were unsuccessful by press time.