October 21st 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) has accused forces of the Sudan People Liberation Army in opposition (SPLA-IO) of launching an attack on their military base at Kotkea near the town of Nasir in the Upper Nile region in a statement issued on Sunday.
“Yesterday morning, the 20th of October 2018, a contingent of the SPLM/A IO attacked the camp of FDP/SSAF forces at Kotkea near Nasir town in Upper Nile State. The force moved from the SPLM/A IO base at Mandeang,” the SSOA said in a statement.
The opposition coalition explained that the forces of the SPLA (IO) unexpectedly overran the camp and captured two commanders from the South Sudan Armed Forces (SSAF/FDP)
“Kotkea camp was overrun and two FDP/SSAF commanders were captured by the attacking force. They were: Major General Riek Gach Gatluak and Brigadier Ochan Nyuot. This unprovoked attack is part of a plan by the SPLM/A IO to dislodge the Opposition forces from their locations so that they can claim to be the only Opposition force to deal with,” the statement said.
The group claimed that the leadership of the SPLM/A (IO) was informed about the imminent attack in advance, and that it had full knowledge about that was carried out by its forces pointing that the attack signals flagrant violations of the CoHA 2017 and the permanent ceasefire signed by the warring parties in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.
“When the SPLM/A IO on the ground started preparing for this aggression about a week ago, we alerted the SPLM/A IO leadership about the impending attack. Therefore, this attack was launched with the full knowledge of the SPLM/A IO leadership. It is a flagrant breach of the CoHA 2017 and a violation of the permanent ceasefire agreed upon in Khartoum in June and reaffirmed in the Revitalized Agreement to Resolve the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R ARCSS) signed on 12 September 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,” it added.
