South Sudan Opposition: What’s Happening in Upper Nile Is Collective Punishment

The leadership of the United People’s Alliance (UPA) strongly condemned what it called collective punishment of the people of Upper Nile by the South Sudanese government.

The UPA, formed in January, is an alliance of the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) and other opposition groups participating in the Kenyan government-brokered Tumaini Initiative peace talks in Nairobi.

The alliance has consolidated its forces under a single command, and General Pagan Amum Okech, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), has been appointed its chairman and commander-in-chief.

On Sunday night, the town of Nasir in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State was bombarded by South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SPDF) using incendiary bombs, causing civilian casualties and fires.

Later, local authorities reported that 21 civilians, including two women and two children, were killed in an airstrike.

Local residents blamed the attack on civilians on the South Sudanese People’s Defense Forces (SPDF) and the Ugandan military, which had deployed to South Sudan to support them.

SSPDF and UPDF airstrikes also targeted other areas, such as Longechuk in Upper Nile State and Akobo in Jonglei State.

The statement, signed by Lual Dau, Secretary General and Spokesperson of the United People’s Alliance (UPA), urged political and civil society activists to protest the government’s use of foreign forces to suppress the people of South Sudan and return the country to war.