South Sudan’s rebels accuse Uganda of “dropping explosives and chemicals” in Upper Nile State

Pagak, September 8, 2015 (SSNA) — South Sudanese rebel military command has accused the governments of Uganda and South Sudan of using banned and poisonous explosives and chemicals against the armed opposition in the oil-rich Upper Nile State, saying Kampala and Juba have become desperate in their military campaign against rebel forces.

The office of rebel military command told the South Sudan News Agency (SSNA) on Tuesday that Ugandan helicopter gunships began their air campaign against the SPLA-IO since last Friday and that Kampala and Juba have been targetting rebel locations and areas populated by civilians.
 
The armed oppostion warned of “serious consequences" if Uganda refuses  to stop its air campaign against its forces.

The rebel military command also accuses South Sudan’s government of engaging in deceptive practices after Juba requested the United States and United Nations (UN) to send their peace monitors to South Sudan. Rebels also revealed that the coordinated attack on their positions is being carrying out by SPLA-Juba and SPLA-North with air support from Ugandan air force.

The armed opposition further calls on IGAD-Plus and the international community to send explosive and chemical experts to Upper Nile State to monitor and verify what they described as “Kampala’s toxic campaign against south Sudanese.”

It is not the first time Uganda has been accused by the rebels.

Ugandan troops began fighting alongside South Sudanese government soldiers against the SPL-IO days after the civil war broke out in December 2013.

In November 2014, the South Sudan News Agency obtained a wide-raging Ugandan military war plan against South Sudanese rebels. In the document, the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) asked South Sudan’s rebels to either surrender or be wiped out.

In February 2014, Uganda was accused by the United Nations of using cluster bombs against the SPLA-IO in Jonglei State.

The involvement of Ugandan military in the violence-wracked South Sudan angers rebel forces, with Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, refusing to withdraw his soldiers claiming Juba has asked Kampala for a military help.

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