A helicopter gunship. Courtesy

A lawmaker representing Pochalla Constituency has said he is preparing a motion against the use of gunships to bomb Pochalla County of Pibor Administrative Area.

On Tuesday, the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces spokesperson said the army used air power to bomb armed youth in Pochalla.

This was after they allegedly launched a fierce attack that breached the defensive trenches of its local barrack.

Major General Lul Ruai Koang said the bombing of what he termed as “hostile youth” was justified by the magnitude of the alleged civilian offensive.

He said the army headquarters had to dispatch air support to its own forces following the attack that almost overran the SSPDF barrack, as reported by local officials.

MP Charles Welo Onyony from Pochalla County says the bombardment has displaced the entire civilians displacement with some crossing to neighbouring Ethiopia.

“I raised the issue in the parliament and all the members and everybody to discuss it. I gave it as information and our speaker asked me not to put it just in writing and to put it as a motion,” said Welo.

“Now I am preparing myself to give the motion to the parliament to discuss the issue of why the government sent the gunship and bombed the area,” he said.

‘Our people run away and we don’t know where the others are, others cross the border and run to Ethiopia.”

Early this week, the military headquarters in Juba confirmed the fierce fighting between its South Sudan People’s Defense Force troops and armed youth.

But Pochalla County Executive Director Owiti Olung said Brigadier General Joseph Okony was shot dead on orders of one Commander Achuil after the victim refused to be redeployed to a new area.

According to Olung, violent clashes erupted earlier on Monday in the town and later escalated to the SSPDF headquarters in Pochalla.

He accused the army of instigating the fighting despite the local government’s appeal for calm after the alleged assassination.