BENTIU – Fighting has erupted this morning between South Sudan’s warring factions in Guit County, east of the Unity State capital of Bentiu, residents and opposition officials say.
The clashes began at around 8:00 AM when SSPDF-allied militias led by Maj. Gen. Wun Tiep, who had defected from the SPLA-IO, attacked an SPLA-IO garrison located at Guithou village.
Speaking to Sudans Post this morning, SPLA-IO Division 4A Commander Maj. Gen. John Turuk Khor said the fighting erupted after SSPDF-allied commander Maj. Gen. Wun Tiep launched an attack on their position at Guit Thou.
He added that SPLA-IO forces had successfully repulsed the attack.
“This is to inform the South Sudanese and the international community that SSPDF militias led by Gen. Wun Tiep have this morning launched an attack on our position at a place called Guit Thou and we have repulsed their attack,” Gen. Turuk said.
The SPLA-IO commander said that casualty figures from the attack were still being assessed, but he emphasized that his forces had been instructed not to pursue the retreating SSPDF militias.
He stressed that SPLA-IO forces would only act in self-defense if attacked again.
“Since they have retreated back to their position in Guit town, I have instructed my forces not to follow them. My forces will only act when they come back to attack our position because we have a right to do so,” Gen. Turuk said.
Meanwhile, SPLA-IO sector two spokesman Maj. Kerbino Yai Pazale reported that an unidentified force had left the SSPDF Division 4 headquarters at Baar in Rubkona and was heading towards the area where the fighting had taken place.
He stated that SPLA-IO forces were closely monitoring the movements of this unidentified force.
“A force whose number is still unknown to us has left the SSPDF barracks in Baar and is heading to the area where the fighting took place. We are observing what they will go and do, and we will update the public accordingly,” Maj. Pazale said.
The fighting in Guit comes just days after clashes in Leer County in the far east of Unity State displaced hundreds of civilians.
The SPLA-IO had accused SSPDF commander General Simon Maguek Gai of launching an attack on their position at Kaigai village east of Leer.
The fighting in Leer had intensified, leading to the killing of a senior SSPDF commander during a sustained battle at Leer Primary School.
The latest outbreak of violence in Guit also follows the recent defection of a militia group previously allied with the SSPDF to the SPLA-IO in the area
