JUBA, Oct. 8 — The South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) on Tuesday said it killed 13 fighters from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In-Opposition (SPLA-IO) during last week’s clashes in Upper Nile State.
Lul Ruai Koang, spokesperson of the SSPDF, said that their forces managed to repulse SPLA-IO forces that had attacked their position from Oct. 3 to 4 in Wunkur village in the oil-rich Upper Nile State. “The SPLA-IO rebels launched sequenced attacks on the national army’s position at Wunkur. All attacks were repelled, thirteen attackers eliminated and one was captured. The wounded prisoner of war will be airlifted to Juba for specialized treatment and further investigations,” Koang said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Koang disclosed that government forces seized a cache of weapons from the attackers, including a PKM machine gun, an RPG-7 grenade launcher, and two AKM assault rifles. The clash is the latest in an escalation between government troops and SPLA-IO forces loyal to former First Vice President Riek Machar. Tensions have intensified since March 2025, when an attack by the White Army militia on an SSPDF base in Nasir County, Upper Nile State, resulted in the deaths of more than 250 government soldiers, according to the government. The government accused the SPLA-IO of inciting the militia assault. The incident subsequently triggered the house arrest of Machar and several senior SPLA-IO officials, sparking widespread fighting across Upper Nile, Unity, and Jonglei states.
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