Kampala, Uganda
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has condemned Monday’s killing of two Catholic nuns in an ambush along the Juba-Nimule Highway, referring to it as an act of terror.
Sisters Mary Daniel Abut and Regina Roba, attached to the Congregation of Sacred Hearts of the Catholic Diocese of Juba, were waylaid, shot at and killed by unknown assailants as they returned from a major Christian event in their country – the centenary celebration of Our Lady of Assumption of Loa Parish.
The minibus was attacked on Monday along the Juba-Nimule Highway. PICTURE: Emma Okot.
In a statement on Tuesday, President Kiir conveying condolences to the families of the deceased Sisters and the Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Juba, Dr Stephen Martin Mulla. He also blamed the attack on armed groups that are not part of his led Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity.
“The Government signed the Rome Declaration, the Recommitment to cessation of Hostilities and the Declaration of the Principles with the Holdout Groups with the goal of stopping fighting and saving innocent lives,” he said. “Now that the non-signatories to the Revitalized Peace Agreement continue to violate these commitments, the Government may reconsider its position on the ongoing Sant’Egidio led Rome Initiative. Our pursuit of an inclusive peace should never be taken for a weakness and used as window to kill the innocent.”
The President – who prayed God would give the people of South Sudan strength to overcome the traumatic experience of the murder of the two sisters – said five people were killed during the attack – which took place at around 10am on Monday, but he didn’t name the other victims although there were reports that two of them were in military uniforms.
The victims of Monday’s attack were travelling in two different passenger vehicles including a minibus and a small van when the assailants struck near the village of Kubi, spraying them with bullets targeting the fuel tanks and the windscreens.
The attackers later set the small van and the body of its occupant, one of the two sisters, on fire.
One of the survivors of the attack, Emma Okot, a South Sudanese radio journalist, who was travelling the same route when the incident occurred, told Sight that some people jumped out of the minibus and fled into the nearby bushes to escape the attackers.
Nine sisters including the deceased were in the minibus at the time of the attack.
There have been several deadly attacks by armed groups against civilians along the Juba-Nimule Highway since 2016. Earlier this year the South Sudanese army said it had deployed more soldiers along the route to boost security. The army also reinstated security escort vehicles for civilian convoys although they were not mandatory and sometimes civilians preferred to ply the route without them.
Soldiers of South Sudan’s army at the site of the attack. PICTURE: Emma Okot.
Following Monday’s attack, the Secretary General of the Catholic Diocese of Juba, Rev Fr Samuel Abe, announced the death of the two sisters.
Sr Christine John Amaa, a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also issued a statement confirming the death of the group’s members.
“Former Superior General Sr Mary Daniel Abut who served our congregation of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from 2006-2018, and Sr Regina Roba was twice in the General Council, were killed in cold blood today as they returned from the centenary celebrations of Assumption of Lady Parish,” she wrote.
Pope Francis also offered his “heartfelt condolences” to the sisters’ families and the religious community in a telegram sent through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State.
Vatican News reported that the Pope expressed his hope that “their sacrifice will advance the cause of peace, reconciliation and security in the region”.
The Catholic Diocese of Juba announced five days of mourning under which all Catholic institutions including universities, seminaries, primary and secondary schools will remain closed.
The five people killed on Monday are the latest civilian casualties in a conflict that has claimed an estimated 400,000 lives since South Sudan gained independence from the Sudan in 2011.
At the time of writing, no militia had claimed responsibility for the attack.
– With DAVID ADAMS
