Washington, DC, May 12, 2015 (SSNA) — South Sudanese rebel representative to the United States Hon. Reath Muoch Tang, has condemned new atrocities committed by South Sudan government troops and their foreign allies in Unity State.
The recent carnage happened nearly 17 months after government-sponsored militia and privately managed presidential guards massacred innocent civilians in Juba in December of 2013.
The United States, Canada, United Nations, and other international players have also condemned the new killings and kidnappings and called for accountability.
Reath, who was appointed in 2014 by the SPLM/A-IO’s Chairman, Dr. Riek Machar, to represent the armed opposition in the US on Tuesday released a strongly worded statement, accusing South Sudan’s government soldiers and their foreign allies of launched surprised assaults on the SPLA-IO held areas and villages occupied by civilians.
“The SPLM Mission to USA condemns in the strongest terms possible the current unprovoked offensives launched by the government of South Sudan and its allied militia against the positions of the SPLM/A Resistance Movement forces in Unity State,” Reath said in a statement.
Heavy fighting has intensified in recent days in Unity State after government troops attacked rebel outposts in Guit, Mayom, and Koch Counties.
Eyewitnesses and the United Nations workers in the areas have confirmed that government forces raped women, young girls, kidnapped boys, and killed many civilians. Eyewitnesses further disclosed that the Juba-backed soldiers also “looted large numbers of livestock.”
“The government forces engaged in criminal activities such as raping of young girls, killing, and kidnapping of young boys from the age of ten possibly for forceful recruitment in the army,” he added.
“The attacking government forces and their allied militia have also burned down entire villages in the countryside in both Guit and Koch counties and looted large numbers of livestock from the area after displacing its innocent unarmed inhabitants in a clear scorched earth policy campaign with intent to drive the inhabitants far away from their ancestral lands,” Reath revealed.
The South Sudan News Agency (SSNA) has confirmed from numerous sources that the latest atrocities were committed mainly in Southern part of Bentiu and Mayom County.
Reath calls on IGAD, AU, UN, and Troika to put maximum pressure on Juba to respect the January 2014 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. He branded government attacks as “premeditated acts of aggression,” and warned that the SPLA-IO “reserves the right to fight back in self-defense.”
In the document, the top rebel official in the United States reaffirms the SPLM/A-IO commitment to peace and elaborated that the recent killing of unarmed innocent civilians by government forces shows that Juba is not interested in peace, asserting that Kiir only believes in military means.