Five Ugandans and 14 South Sudanese nationals were on Thursday morning killed in an ambush in South Sudan when a convoy they were travelling in came under gunfire along the Nimule- Juba road.
The attackers are suspected to be rebels loyal to former South Sudan Vice President Riek Machar.
Police and military sources in Uganda say the five Ugandans were travelling in a South Sudan registered Toyota Premior car registration number SSD 393B.
Aswa region police spokesman Jimmy Patrick Okema said the five were travelling to attend a marriage ceremony in South Sudan. They have been identified as John Nigo, 73, Charles Yeka, 74, and a priest identified as Rev Yona Gboro, 74. Others are John Paru Loja, 28, and James Aliker, 34, the driver of the ill-fated vehicle. All are residents of Koboko in the West Nile region.
The vehicle in which the five were killed was, according to Ugandan security sources, carrying nine passengers when it came fire from attackers. Survivors of the attack were taken to Juba hospital, in the South Sudan capital, Juba.
The ambush took place between Moli and Keripi at around 11am, 55 kms along the Nimule- Juba Highway. It is not clear in which direction the vehicle was heading.
Also killed in the attack were 14 South Sudan nationals. One of them was a South Sudan national security officials and his driver. The rest were by press time still unidentified.
The Nimule- Juba road is a strategic route used for trade between Uganda and South Sudan. But conflict in South Sudan has made in a dangerous route road to ply leading to a drop in volume of goods and foreign excngane earned by Uganda which at one point was as high as 800 million dollars a year, according to the World Banl. That amount is now put at around 500 million dollars a year since fresh conflict broke out in South Sudan between President Salva Kiir and his Vice President Riek Machar.
In May last year three Ugandan traders were shot dead by suspected rebels between Aruu Junction and Magwi town in Eastern Equatoria state, 25 kilometres from Nimule town.
Earlier, in April, unknown gunmen shot dead Musa Bunya, a truck driver and injured his turn man Jackson Kiyaga between Tseretenya and Ikotos town in South Sudan’s Imatong State, 20 kilometres from Ugandan-South Sudan border.
In 2016, Ugandan government cautioned businessmen supplying merchandises to South Sudan to be cautious of their security saying South Sudan remains volatile.
