March 31st 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, the SPLM-IO led by the country former First Vice-president, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, said on Wednesday that it has no connection to a fatal ambush that killed a lawmaker the day before.
Last Tuesday, a South Sudan national lawmaker and two security guards were killed in a fatal ambush as they were leaving Mandeng, an area within the opposition-controlled Sobat State located in the former Upper Nile state. The boat captain was also injured in the attack.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the SPLA-IO deputy spokesman, Col. Lam Paul Gabriel, said the opposition group has nothing to do with the incident accusing unnamed ‘criminals’ of carrying out the attack which also killed an SPLA-IO security member.
“The SPLA IO would like to distance itself from the incident that happened in Mandeng yesterday the 26/03/2019 where a boat carrying peace delegation from Mandeng to Nasir was waylaid and a Member of Parliament got killed including a security personnel from the the SPLA-IO,” he said.
“This is an act done by criminals who don’t value the importance of peace. The SPLA IO security team is working hard to pursue and apprehend these two criminals and bring them to justice,” he added pointing out that the “leadership of the SPLA IO regrets the lost of the Hon. MP and the security personnel who were disseminating peace to the civilians in Mandeng.”
