Yei River County | Credit | Karte: NordNordWest, Lizenz: Creative Commons

Two SSPDF soldiers have reportedly been killed in what has been described as an ambush along the Yei-Juba road.

According to the Director for Civil-Military Relations and Public Information in Yei River State, the attackers also wounded another soldier.

Michael Machar says the soldiers were shot dead in Lora, about 10 kilometers from Yei town, forcing authorities to suspend travels along the road.

“They attacked the area but they were repulsed back up to now the road is safe and the civilians are moving freely,” he told Eye Radio via from Yei on Tuesday.

Lora is an assembling area for NAS forces who have joined the government, he said.

NAS, which is led by former army general Thomas Cirilo, has been active in the area since late 2018.

He declined to be part of the September 2018 power-sharing peace agreement, arguing that it didn’t address the root causes of the conflict, which according to him include corruption, tribalism, among others.

But political analysts say the five-year conflict was triggered by power wrangles among the liberators.

Gen. Cirilo and other non-signatories – notably ex-army chief Gen. Paul Malong Awan – have called for renegotiation of the peace accord, a demand the regional body, IGAD, which brokered the deal has turned down and urged them to join the peace process.