Four passengers including two pastors from the Anglican church in Bor were killed in an ambush on a convoy traveling between Juba and Bor on Saturday morning.

A convoy of five commercial vehicles left Juba at 10:00 a.m. heading toward Bor and reached Gemeiza by about 3:00 p.m. Between Gemeiza and Sudan Safari in Central Equatoria State the convoy was attacked.

The vehicle at the front was targeted, resulting in the death of several passengers, while the other cars were able to turn around.

Vehicles that escaped the ambush reached safely to a nearby roadblock where they informed military authorities of the incident. They then proceeded toward Bor under escort.

According to Deng Abel, who was driver of the third car in the convoy that was ambushed, the military convoy rescued the driver of the lead car who had survived the ambush with bullet wounds to his arm and leg.

“After the first car was shot, we quickly turned to escape safely. After we received an escort from the army, we resumed towards Bor,” explained the driver.

“In Sudan Safari we found our colleague with four dead bodies. He told us how he escaped, despite that he was wounded. The conductor took over the wheel, because the driver had injuries at his arm,” Abel told Radio Tamazuj.

Ugandan troops moving from Bor to Juba reportedly encountered the attackers, who were identified as wearing SPLA uniforms.

One of the victims of the ambush was identified as Pastor Peter Yueu Gai, while the other pastor’s name is not yet confirmed. 

File photo: A landmine accident in Unity State in 2011 (Radio Tamazuj)