About one hundred wounded soldiers protested at a roundabout in Juba on Monday, blocking two roads. They say they have not received their salary for January.
Standing with crutches or seated at the roadside or on the roundabout, the group promised not to leave the street until high-ranking military personnel attended to them and listened to their grievances, according to bystanders around the University of Juba.
Apparently the war-wounded soldiers moved this morning from the military hospital located at Giyada base up to the roundabout on Custom Road next to Juba University.
Soldiers and security personnel deployed to the area in response to the protest refused to allow media coverage of the event.
However, a correspondent on the scene witnessed angry protesters throwing stones at a vehicle using the Hai Thowra road. The stone-throwers broke the glass of the vehicle, which appeared to belong to the government, forcing the driver to turn around.
An anonymous military source who was at the scene confirmed the wounded soldiers were striking because they did not receive the salary of January of this year. He explained that the strikers sent their representative to Bilpam headquarters to present their case.
He expected the strikers to wait until he comes back before leaving the university roundabout, which lies at the intersection of the Juba Custom road and Hai Thowra-Giyada road.
Photo: A view toward the roundabout blocked in Juba by protesting soldiers on 24 March 2014. (Radio Tamazuj)