A brief exchange of gunfire broke out Sunday morning between security forces at Mapaw checkpoint along the Juba–Bor road during a funeral convoy led by Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth, witnesses said.
The convoy was escorting the body of the late Martha Atong, wife of Bishop Nathaniel Garang Anyieth, who died in Juba on Oct. 19.
According to family members, the incident occurred after one of the vehicles in the convoy, which had fallen behind, was stopped at the checkpoint and asked to present travel documents. A misunderstanding between personnel from the National Security Service (NSS) and Military Intelligence (MI) quickly escalated into gunfire.
“One of the escort vehicles was stopped on our way to Bor, and after some NSS and MI officers came, gunshots erupted,” said Ayom Samuel, a relative of the deceased. “The minister Michael Makuei is fine and is here with us in the convoy.”
Two soldiers stationed at the checkpoint were injured, one of them critically, according to witnesses. No casualties were reported among members of the funeral convoy.
Ayom described the shooting as a “miscommunication” rather than a targeted attack.
Journalist Maal Maker, who was traveling in the convoy, also confirmed to Radio Tamazuj that everyone including Minister Makuei was safe. “Hon. Michael Makuei is here with me, and nothing happened to him,” he said, adding that reports of fatalities among the minister’s bodyguards were false.
Several attempts to reach South Sudan People’s Defense Forces spokesman Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang for comment were unsuccessful.