afrol News, 1 July - Southern Sudanese government has ordered Ugandan troops to leave its territory on Monday, blaming it on recent civilian's attacks in the border with Sudan.

Uganda troops who are currently in Sudan, hunting rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) are accused of causing chaotic situation in the country.

South Sudan's vice president, Mr Riek Machar who is also chief mediator of Ugandan peace talks, accuses Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) of committing attacks against civilians in different parts of the country.

"If there are any forces in Sudan that are UPDF, they should move back to the Ugandan territory. If the option to fight the LRA is going to be made, south Sudan can handle this on its own," Mr Machar said.

Mr Machar who has commissioned a committee to investigate the attacks, on Monday also accused UPDF for abducting and killing a 31-year-old Sudanese man identified as Jino Moga Mandara in a raid that was initially blamed on the LRA.

"I sent the committee to go and investigate. The rest of the evidence is there. Indeed, it didn't turn out to be the LRA, but they were UPDF," Mr Machar told parliament in Juba.

The report presented before Juba parliament revealed that about 30 gunmen raided a homestead at Nyongwa village on June 19, looted food and household goods and abducted Jino Moga Mandara.

The abducted man was later found dead, having sustained a head injury and stab wound seemingly from a bayonet.

Mr Machar told parliament that his decision to expel the UPDF was intended to avoid past mistakes of killing civilians.

Uganda, which has been hunting LRA forces in southern Sudan since 2002, and had committed to keep its forces in the country to stop the rebels from returning to northern Uganda and threatening Ugandan security.

Uganda's military spokesman, Major Paddy Ankunda, said that his government had received no formal communication telling its soldiers to leave Sudan's territory, saying deployment of Uganda's troops is per both countries agreement.

Uganda's two-decade civil war displaced 2 million people and destabilised parts of oil-producing south Sudan and mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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