Bentiu, South Sudan — A brief armed confrontation occurred on Wednesday between the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) and opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) troops in Mayom County, Unity State, according to military and eyewitness accounts.
The clash happened in Kaikang village, when an SPLA-IO contingent—part of the integrated VIP Protection Force—was intercepted by local security personnel while retreating from Abyei, where deadly fighting last week left at least 14 soldiers dead.
Kerbino Yai Pazale, the SPLA-IO spokesperson for Sector Two in Unity State, said government soldiers opened fire on the group as they rested beneath trees in Kaikang after their withdrawal from Abyei.
“The SPLA-IO component of the VIP Protection Force that retreated from fighting in Abyei was coming to our base in Kaljak,” Pazale said, adding that the engagement “lasted only a few minutes” and that the SPLA-IO fighters did not return fire.
Pazale warned that the opposition group would respond if “such attacks continue.”
However, Unity State Information Minister Gatwech Bipal Bol denied reports of any clashes, calling the event “a misunderstanding between armed youth.”
“There was no information like that regarding a clash,” Bol told Radio Tamazuj.
Eyewitnesses in Mayom confirmed that an exchange nearly occurred when government forces mistakenly confronted the retreating SPLA-IO unit.
Michael Yang, a resident of Kaikang, said the local security team did not initially recognize the SPLA-IO soldiers.
“They almost exchanged fire, but fortunately the men who came from Abyei didn’t return fire,” Yang said. “When the local forces realized who they were, they let them pass peacefully.”
Yang added that the SPLA-IO group was transporting soldiers wounded in the earlier Abyei clashes and that no casualties were reported in Wednesday’s incident.
The force has since continued toward the Kaljak training centre, where it is expected to be stationed temporarily.
Tensions remain high following last week’s Abyei fighting, which further strained relations between the two forces despite ongoing peace-implementation efforts under the 2018 Revitalized Agreement.
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