Atleast four Ugandans were killed and several others injured today after a bus they were travelling in was ambushed by unknown gunmen along the Nimule- Juba road, police has said.
Aswa region police spokesperson, Jimmy Patrick Okema told Acholi Times that the attack took place at Ame Junction in Moli area along the Juba- Nimule road. Ame is about 42 kms from Nimule.
The motive of the attack remains unclear.
Okema said the vehicle was a Ugandan registered bus Registration No UAM 213N belonging to Friendship, a company which has buses that ply the Gulu- Nimule route.
The critically injured, according to the police spokesperson, were rushed to Juba hospital for treatment Juba and Gulu Regional Hospital. The nationality of those taken to Juba is not yet known. But the five transported to Gulu hospital are Ugandan nationals, according to police. They have been identified as : as Joan Namutsi, Paul Senkubu, Haduja Namansi, Joyce Nalwasa and, Beatrice Nambuya, all are said to be residents of Kampala.
The identity of the dead Ugandans was at the time of publishing this story still not known.
The Nimule- Juba road has become risky for the business communities following an increase in the number of attacks vehicles on the road.
The South Sudan media quoted the spokesperson of the Sudan Liberation Army (SPLA) describing the Thursday attack as act of ‘‘banditry.’’
Reports indicat that passengers who had fled to the bushes when the bus was struck had started returning back to the scene of the ambush after the arrival of SPLA soldiers.
