Juba (TDI): Deadly clashes broke out earlier this week along the border between South Sudan and Uganda, leaving at least five South Sudanese security personnel dead, local authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
According to officials in Kajo Keji County, located in Central Equatoria State, the fighting erupted on Monday between troops from the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and South Sudanese government soldiers.
Those killed included two army officers, two members of the prison service, and one police officer, said a statement issued by local security officials.
The cause of the confrontation remains unclear, but local commanders allege that the Ugandan side initiated the assault with heavy weaponry.
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“Ugandan forces arrived with tanks and artillery and opened fire on a joint South Sudanese security patrol,” said Commander Henry Buri, who leads army operations in the region. He claimed the attack targeted a 19-member South Sudanese unit on routine deployment.
The South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) confirmed the clash but offered no further details. The Ugandan government has not publicly responded to the incident.
A previous statement from local authorities mentioned that casualties occurred on both sides, though exact figures for the Ugandan forces were not provided.
Uganda has long played an active role in South Sudan’s internal affairs. It deployed troops to support President Salva Kiir during the civil war that broke out in 2013, just two years after South Sudan gained independence. The conflict, largely fought between forces loyal to Kiir and his former vice president Riek Machar, claimed an estimated 400,000 lives before a fragile peace agreement was signed in 2018.
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In March this year, Uganda again sent special forces into South Sudan after renewed tensions between Kiir and Machar. The latter was subsequently placed under house arrest, effectively collapsing the 2018 power-sharing arrangement.
Since then, violence has escalated between government forces and ethnic Nuer militias loyal to Machar. Uganda has been accused of using barrel bombs, improvised explosives filled with flammable liquid, against these groups in northeastern South Sudan. Kampala has strongly denied those allegations.
Tensions remain high along the porous border, raising fears of further confrontations between the two countries’ forces.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
