South Sudanese rebels said they had taken control of a town on the Ugandan border and killed 14 soldiers in the fighting, an account dismissed on Tuesday as “ridiculous and unfounded” by the government.
The SPLM-IO insurgents loyal to former vice president Riek Machar said they freed prisoners from the jail in Kajo-Keji early on Monday around 100km (60 miles) south of the capital Juba.
The government said the rebels had raided the prison, freed a number of people it described as prisoners-of-war, then left.
“It is lies created by the rebels that they have killed and captured people,” government army spokesman Santo Domic Chol said.
The United Nations says at least a quarter of South Sudan‘s population has been displaced in a three-year civil war triggered by President Salva Kiir’s decision to sack Machar in 2013.
Many people in and around Kajo-Keji have fled to Uganda to escape the fighting.
Related posts:
Sudan accuses South Sudan president of meeting rebels
22 killed in clashes between Ugandan army, M23 Rebels
Hezbollah steps up efforts to capture border town
South Sudan president Kiir grants Machar, other rebels amnesty
South Sudan’s former rebels join unified army
Sudan accuses Egypt of backing rebels ahead of foreign minister’s trip
Sudan extends ceasefire with southern rebels
South Sudan court sentences ten soldiers to jail
