Breaking news: South Sudan rebels bomb UPDF tanks, 250 soldiers killed
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| UPDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda |
January 17, 2014 [KAMPALA]— Dr. Riek Machar rebels fighting to overthrow the government of Salva Kiir in Juba have bombed three tanks of Uganda’s army UPDF and in the process killed over 250 soldiers at Bor and Malakal.
The city of Malakal fell in the hands of rebels on Friday and many of the UPDF soldiers who were fighting along side Salva Kiir’s soldiers were killed, according to one of the UPDF soldiers who spoke in a hide out in Malakal.
According to this source, over 800 UPDF soldiers in South Sudan are cut off at Bay- and Bor. Despite a big number of UPDF soldiers being killed in South Sudan, UPDF spokesman, Paddy Ankunda says the army is yet to reveal the number of the dead soldiers and the causalities. But the UPDF signalers in South Sudan say that Uganda has lost over 345 soldiers in total since president Museveni deployed Uganda soldiers in South Sudan. Most of the people in Uganda speak ill of president Museveni’s habbit of deploying troops in foreign countries without their consent when thieves kill civilians in their tens back home.
Ankunda says revealing the number of casualties, troop deployments and the number of UPDF soldiers so far killed could be suicidal if the information ends up in the hands of Riek Machar rebels. The Riek Machar rebels are about 90 kilometers to reach Juba. Ankunda confirms that the UPDF soldiers fell in an ambush laid by the rebels loyal to Riek Machar and many of them were killed.
“We don’t reveal casualties before we inform relatives. It can be devastating to learn about the death of their people through the media. At an appropriate time, government will be brought to account and reveal those numbers,” said Lt. Col. Ankunda.
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Important Discussion: NBS Morning Breeze-South Sudan crisis. Link here.