Unidentified gunmen attacked and killed an SSPDF soldier in Tonj East County, Warrap State, on Monday, the area police have said.
The police director in the county says Matur Yai felled into ambush on the skirts of Romic town at around 7pm.
“The criminals were had hidden somewhere when they shot the soldier in the back three times,” Col Joseph Mathony Nhial told Mayardit FM on Tuesday.
The motive behind the killing of Yai remains unclear, but the police director said the deceased was returning to the military base when the attackers shot him dead before running off with his gun.
Col Nhial added that the authorities have launched investigation into the killing.
Attacks on government soldiers is common in the greater Tonj, notably the November 2022 killing of Kuot Deng Anei, whom unidentified gunmen killed while returning to his base after visiting his family.
Five months earlier, armed youth killed several government soldiers in Tonj North County. Some of the deceased included senior military officers stationed at the area.
The clashes occurred when SSPDF soldiers attempted to recover some cattle that had been allegedly stolen by armed youth in the county.