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Two residents of Leer town told Sudans Post that renewed fighting began at around 8:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, with heavy gunfire heard from the direction of Adok Port, approximately 20 kilometres southeast of the town.
The residents said they could hear sustained gunfire from the area but were unable to establish the extent of the fighting or whether there had been casualties.
Speaking to Sudans Post this morning, SPLA-IO deputy spokesman Lt. Col. Chuol Puot Diu, who is loyal to the faction led by Oyet Nathaniel, accused forces aligned with Regina Joseph Kaba, who has declared herself acting chairperson of the opposition movement, of launching unprovoked attacks against his faction’s positions.
Diu said the rival forces had previously been stationed together at Adok Port, but tensions escalated following a leadership struggle within the SPLA-IO, leading to armed confrontations between troops that had previously operated under the same command.
“Yesterday the forces who are loyal to Regina [Joseph Kaba] and Gen. Dhiling Keah Chuol attack the forces of SPLM/SPLA-IO with in Adok Port because they live together in Adok Port, But our forces withdrew from Adok Port due to avoid fighting,” Diu said.
He said the fighting also spread to Rubkong, the SPLM-IO headquarters of Leer County, where forces loyal to Kaba allegedly attacked the opposition county commissioner before launching another assault that resulted in repulsing the attack and pushing the attackers towards Thoor village near Adok Port.
“However, their forces also launched a surprise attack yesterday where they attacked the [SPLM-IO] Commissioner of Leer County at the county headquarters in Rubkong. We repulsed that attack, but today morning they launched another attack on our forces in Rupkong, but we pushed them back to Thoor village which is near Adok Port.”
The spokesman did not provide casualty figures, and Sudans Post could not independently verify the rival factions’ battlefield positions or claims of territorial advances.
Sudans Post was unable to obtain an immediate response from a spokesman for the SPLA-IO faction loyal to Regina Joseph Kaba, despite several telephone calls that went unanswered.
Leer County is the home area of Machar, the longtime leader of the SPLA-IO, which has experienced growing internal divisions over its leadership and political direction.
The latest fighting highlights the deepening fragmentation of the opposition movement, raising fears of further instability in Unity State as rival commanders compete for influence and control of forces on the ground.
