Dozens killed as SSPDF, SPLA-IO clash in disputed border zone

BENTIU – Dozens of soldiers were killed early Wednesday when South Sudan’s army and opposition forces clashed in a disputed border zone between Upper Nile State and the Ruweng Administrative Area, officials from both sides said, in one of the deadliest confrontations reported this year.

The fighting broke out at dawn on Tuesday in territory lying between Panyikang County of Upper Nile and Pariang County of the Ruweng Administrative Area. The area has long been contested between the Chollo community of Panyikang and the Jieng (Dinka) Panaruu community of Ruweng, becoming a routine flashpoint as both sides contest administrative boundaries, land ownership, and local authority.

According to the SPLA-IO, SSPDF troops launched an attack on an opposition position outside the disputed settlement, sparking hours of gunfire and counter-assaults.

SPLA-IO deputy spokesman Lt. Col. Chuol Puot Dual claimed told Sudans Post yesterday that opposition forces lost two fighters and six were wounded, while claiming 47 SSPDF soldiers were found dead inside their barracks once the fighting subsided.

Puot said SPLA-IO forces briefly overran the SSPDF position, seizing seven RPG launchers and six PKM machine guns before pulling back to the location where they were first attacked.

“The SSPDF violated the peace agreement by advancing on our forces. After confirming our casualties and securing equipment, we withdrew to our original positions,” he told Sudans Post.

Ruweng government officials, however, rejected the opposition’s account and accused the SPLA-IO of initiating the violence.

Ruweng Administrative Area Information Minister James Monyliak Majok said 12 soldiers died in total — nine from the SPLA-IO and three from the SSPDF — and that four government troops were wounded and receiving treatment at Pariang Hospital.

“The SPLA-IO launched a heavy attack trying to retake the area, but SSPDF forces repulsed them and remain in full control. There are no civilian casualties and no displacement,” he said.

Majok said the area saw several smaller attacks last week and accused unnamed groups of circulating false casualty figures and “misinforming the public” about conditions on the ground.

The deadly exchange underscores growing tension across parts of Upper Nile and Ruweng, where unresolved border disputes, ethnic rivalries, and stalled security arrangements continue to complicate the implementation of the 2018 peace deal.

There were no immediate independent assessments of the competing casualty claims.