SSPDF soldiers ride on a boat on the Nile river on their way to Aleleo, Fashoda State, on October 16, 2016 | Credit | FP/ Charles Atiki Lomodong

The army and an armed opposition group are reportedly fighting over a gold-rich area in Yei River state.

Over the weekend, at least four government soldiers were killed in clashes with NAS forces there.

The South Sudan Peoples Defense Forces on the ground said the opposition forces attacked their bases in Yei River State on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

However, some soldiers told Eye Radio that at least four soldiers including a prisons service commander were killed in the attacks.

But according to the spokesperson of the SSPDF, the army flushed out the NAS forces from the gold-rich Lorogo.

“We have carried a tactical operation at a place called Lorogo. It’s a gold rich area,” Major Gen. Lul Ruai told Eye Radio on Monday.

“We got information that indicate that forces loyal to Thomas Ciriol were illegally mining gold there and that the gold will be smuggled outside the country and sold so that they fund their subversive activities against the government.”