By Adia Jildo
One person was reportedly got after unknown gunmen ambushed a group of civilians who were moving along Yei–Kaya Road Wednesday morning.
The head of Civil Military Relations and Public Information of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) in Yei River County, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Machar alleged that those who carried out the ambush were National Salvation Front (NAS) rebels.
The Lt. Col. stated that, NAS are the only active rebels in Yei and are not bound to the cessation of hostilities.
“Some rebels were crossing and they were trying to loot, extract money from some people. They shot one civilian who was taken to Yei hospital and he is dead now,” he said.
“These people were ambushed along the road and the rebels wanted to extort money or anything they could find but the situation was rescued by the SSPDF and the National Security,” he added.
The military officer said that the culprits who ambushed the civilians managed to run-away due to presence of the bush.
Machar said that the looters might have been hungry, and were searching for something to eat.
He however stated that the security situation of Yei is calm with exception of Wednesday morning’s incident.
“The security situation is very calm; everything is moving on well. People are moving to the markets and so on. There is nothing to be afraid of,” he said.