WAU, — At about 3 a.m. today, an SSPDF attack helicopter reportedly bombed areas of Jur River in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State, in an apparent attempt to strike SPLA-IO bases. However, all the bombs landed in civilian-populated areas. No casualties or property damage were reported, according to SPLA-IO officials, Oct. 14, 2025.
The SPLA-IO said none of its soldiers were killed, contradicting claims shared on social media by what it described as SPLM-IG “war mongers.”
The airstrike followed an ambush a few days earlier in which SPLA-IO forces said they killed 12 SSPDF soldiers and wounded seven others in Kwanya. The ambush, according to the SPLA-IO, was in retaliation for a failed Sept. 28, 2025, attack allegedly targeting Gen. Bol Wek and other SPLA-IO officials by SPLM-IG security forces.
In a separate statement, the SPLA-IO dismissed as false a South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) report claiming that SPLA-IO soldiers and youth in Ayod defected to the SPLM-IG. The group said SPLM-IG officials had tried to recruit Gawar youth by promising them ammunition to attack Lou communities in response to a recent cattle raid. Those youths were allegedly filmed by SSBC posing as defectors but later returned safely to their homes, according to SPLA-IO.
“The SPLA-IO does not own or control any youth unless he or she has willingly joined the movement in defense of this country,” said Col. Lam Paul Gabriel, SPLA-IO spokesperson. “The SPLM-IG should stop grouping innocent youth into political parties without their consent.”
