11 Sudanese traders killed near Renk
SPLA spokesman, Philip Aguer said gangsters” ambushed three lorry trucks at Khorachier trading centre -- some 30 kilometres from Renk town.
Three lorries fell into an ambush of unknown gangsters in a place called Khorachier north east of Renk town. These gangsters drove away two trucks. One truck got a mechanical problem and they left it besides the road,” Aguer said.
Three lorries fell into an ambush of unknown gangsters in a place called Khorachier north east of Renk town.”
The incident came to light after another group of drivers found the abandoned truck by the roadside.
Suspicious of what might have befallen their colleagues the truck drivers alerted the police in Renk town.
The police reported the information to the SPLA which dispatched a unit to the place and the SPLA followed the trace of the trucks. After a while the SPLA caught up with these gangsters and they exchanged fire. They had already killed the 11 traders that were on the trucks and they fled towards the north,” Aguer explained.
The South Sudan army has blamed the attack on militia forces operating inside Sudan.
We suspect these are people who penetrated the areas from Senar from the Republic of Sudan. These are definitely enemies of peace that do not want the harmony prevailing at the borders. We conveyed our condolences to the families of the traders that are victims of this barbaric act,” said Aguer.
This is the first time such a large number of traders has been killed along the Sudan-South Sudan border since South Sudan declared independence.
The SPLA said it would ensure security prevailed at the border.
This will require security cooperation between the two armies.”
The SPLA will do its best because border trade is what the people at the border town rely on. This will require security cooperation between the two armies so that they can patrol the borders. The SPLA on this side requires the other side to control some of the armed militias,” Aguer said.
The incident comes nearly two weeks after South Sudan and Sudan agreed to open 10 crossing points along their 2,000 kilometre border to boost the movement of goods and people between the two countries.
Sudan closed the border following South Sudan’s independence in 2011, something that hit traders and communities on both sides.
