Two opposition groups in South Sudan — the National Salvation Front (NAS) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) — claimed on Wednesday, September 24 that their joint forces had seized a strategic army garrison in Western Equatoria State following a dawn assault.
In a joint statement, the groups said they captured the Kadi’ba garrison in Mundri East County in retaliation for what they described as ongoing “incursions, harassment, and looting of civilians” by government forces. They alleged that 13 soldiers from the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) were killed in the attack, and circulated a video showing fighters celebrating near captured weaponry, including an armored personnel carrier.
Local officials confirmed the attack but said the situation remained fluid. Mundri East County Commissioner John Henry Ngalamu stated that casualty figures could not yet be verified, while Western Equatoria State Police Commissioner Maj. Gen. Phillip Madut Tong called for an investigation. The SSPDF has not commented on the incident. The assault follows the recent alliance between NAS, led by Gen. Thomas Cirillo, and SPLA-IO, whose leader, First Vice President Riek Machar, remains under house arrest in Juba. The development coincides with Machar’s ongoing trial alongside seven co-accused in the capital, further highlighting the fragility of South Sudan’s 2018 peace agreement.