NASIR – Fighting between the South Sudan people’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and local armed groups Nasir, Upper Nile State killed 48 people and injured over 150 people on Saturday, Upper Nile Governor James Koang Chuol, said.
The clashes which occurred in Burebiey town near the South Sudan-Ethiopia border happened after the SPLM/A-IO and local White Army militia attacked an SSPDF base there, Koang said in an interview with news outlet Eye Radio.
The governor claimed 48 people were killed and 148 were wounded on the opposition’s side and there was no fatality but four wounded officers from the SSPDF.
“We are for peace, and if anyone wants to talk to us, we are available,” he said, while urging calm and calling on the opposition forces to end attacks on the SSPDF.
South Sudan’s renewed conflict was triggered by an administrative military deployment coordinated by SSPDF and SPLM/A-IO forces into Nasir town in March 2025 which turned into a disagreement and escalated into armed clashes, consequently killing many and displacing tens of thousands of civilians.
The immediate trigger for the conflict was the killing of a White Army member by the SSPDF on March 3, 2025, in Nasir, which escalated into clashes and the capture of the town’s army barracks by the White Army. The barrack and the town were later recaptured by the army.
In Juba, the incident caused a serious political and security crisis which was followed by the arrest and detention in Juba of several SPLM-IO political leaders including national MPs and ministers – the house arrest of Dr. Riek Machar – a signatory to the 2018 peace deal.
Machar and several others were recently indicted on serious charges of treason, terrorism, and crimes against humanity for the Nasir incident. They dismiss the charges as political witch-hunt.