Six SPLA soldiers were killed in an ambush in Ramala village some kilometres away from Timsah in Raja County last weekend, according to a local official.

Raja County Commissioner James Benjamin told Radio Tamazuj that SPLA soldiers were ambushed resulting in the killing of at least six soldiers on Saturday. He blamed a Rizeigat tribal militia from neighboring Sudan.

He said the incident took place after cattle belonging to the Riziegat tribe were allegedly raided. “The Rizeigat tribe accused some SPLA soldiers of raiding their cattle, which is untrue,” he said.

The county official said that the cattle were raided instead by Habbaniya tribesmen, not SPLA soldiers. Benjamin revealed that they informed Rizeigat tribal leaders in East Darfur about the incident.

There are mechanisms by which the Arab tribes can resolve their own difference and they should not involve the South Sudan army, the commissioner said.