By Isaac Majok
JUBA-South Sudan Government forces, the SPLA/IG are battling the opposition SPLA/IO rebels for control of the rebel stronghold of Pagak. Pagak, near the border with Ethiopia has been the rebel headquarters since 2013 when fighting erupted. Recently Government forces said they had captured Pagak, a claim the rebels denied.
Relaying the clashes between the two forces in Pagak, Bol Ruach Rom, governor of Maiwut State told a local newspaper that “yesterday morning around 6.09am, our forces came under heavy fire from the armed groups under Machar, but they were repulsed back. They came from the eastern part of Pagak town.”
Rom added that the rebels lost many of their soldiers while the Government forces lost one soldier and two became injured.
The fighting was also confirmed by the rebel side. Colonel Lam Paul Gabriel, the deputy spokesman of the rebels said “it is true that we fought and we dealt the government forces a significant blow.”
In August this year, a week after SPLA/IO had been dislodged from Pagak, Gabriel told the Associated Press that they had recaptured Pagak after heavy fighting with Government troops.
Pagak remains a vital base for the rebels.
