April 1, 2021 (YEI) - The Leadership of National Salvation Front (NAS) has strongly refuted allegations that its forces ambushed and killed people on the Juba-Yei road.
At least nine Ugandan drivers were been killed in a deadly ambush on the Yei-Juba highway in neighboring South Sudan last weekend, authorities confirmed.
The opposition group, in a statement, said it was not the first time its forces were wrongly accused by President Salva Kiir's government.
“On the same note, NAS condemns the irresponsible remarks made by the Governor of Central Equatoria State (CES) Hon. Emmanuel Adil Anthony who falsely accused NAS of carrying out road ambushes and further describing NAS as terrorist organization,” partly reads the statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Thursday.
It further stated that citizens of Central Equatoria State, in particular, and South Sudan in general lived in agony because of the “atrocities being committed by the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) and its allied militia”.
“The SSPDF and its allied militia have been repeatedly looting, burning houses, killing, raping women and displacing the citizens from their villages,” it stressed.
The hold-out opposition group largely blamed the recent attacks on innocent civilians on the country's national army and pastoralists operating in these areas.
“On the other development, the cattle keepers from different areas of South Sudan are freely marauding and grazing in the whole of Central Equatoria State, armed with modern weapons, and constantly supplied with food as well as ammunition from their benefactors from Juba,” further noted the statement.
Meanwhile, NAS reiterated its commitment to the Cessions of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) signed in 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and to the Rome Declaration signed in 2020 in Rome, Italy.
(ST)
April 1, 2021 (BOR) - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has said his government will prioritize the fight against hunger across the young nation.
The South Sudanese leader made the remarks while addressing citizens during his visit to the Jonglei state capital, Bor on Thursday.
The situation remains dire across the country as almost 7 million people or 60 percent of the population are struggling to find enough food each day, aid agencies say.
“The president and his accompanying delegation visited the IDPs [internally displaced persons] in Mongalla payam and other camps along Juba-Bor road and keenly listened to their problems and demands,” the presidency said on Thursday.
Kiir also inspected the ongoing construction of the project on the Juba-Bor highway and commended the progress so far made on it.
For his part, senior presidential advisor, Kuol Manyang Juuk said the president is tirelessly committed to deliver services to the population.
He advised citizens not to listen to activists intending to divide the country, while urging the people of Greater Jonglei state to unite and support the president in the implementation of the peace deal.
The governor of Jonglei state, Denay Jok Chagor assured the South Sudanese leader that citizens fully support the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU).
South Sudan has been struggling to recover from five years of a civil war that killed almost 400,000 people, according to reports. A coalition government formed in February last year between President Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar is implementing a peace agreement that is behind schedule, while deadly violence continues in parts of the country.
(ST)