VZCZCXRO7808
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0055/01 0140848
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140848Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5788
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000055 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EAID ASEC MOPS PHUM SOCI SU
SUBJECT:  Southern Sudan:  Four Die in Jan. 2 Ambush Southeast of 
Juba; Local PA&E Employee Details Incident 
 
REF:  a) Khartoum 00053, b) 06 Khartoum 02916, c) 06 Khartoum 02667 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  On January 2, at 12:30 p.m., assailants ambushed a 
truck carrying approximately 35 passengers about 100 kilometers 
southeast of Juba, killing at least four and wounding six 
individuals.  A survivor, a local PA&E employee, stated that the 
assailants were LRA rebels; she provided ConGen Pol Officer with 
further details regarding the attack.  End summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Local PA&E Employee Claims Assailants Were LRA Rebels 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) One of the passengers traveling in the vehicle was Florence 
Kasara (protect), a local employee of U.S. firm Pacific Architects 
and Engineers (PA&E), which is rehabilitating the Consulate General 
residential compound in Juba.  Congen staff interviewed Kasara after 
the incident; she states she departed Magwi in the steel-sided truck 
at approximately 12:30 p.m. on January 2 with 30-35 other passengers 
and their belongings.  At a point roughly 25 kilometers southwest of 
Magwi, halfway between the Magwi and Opari junctions on the 
Nimule-Magwi road and about 100 kilometers southeast of Juba. 
Gunfire began approximately one and one-half hours into the trip; as 
she and several others attempted to look over the side of the truck, 
she observed approximately 12 people, whom she claimed were Lord's 
Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, in a fishhook formation extending from 
the left front side of the vehicle and around to the road 
approximately 100 meters in front of them.  The attackers, who were 
speaking Acholi (the predominant language of the LRA), wore green 
camouflage uniforms, used Kalashnikov rifles, and had dreadlock 
hairstyles common to the LRA.  She claimed that several of the 
attackers, including one that was shooting at her and chasing her 
from the truck into the forest, were very young.  Kasara also 
claimed that the area was later scoured by SPLA soldiers who found 
many small footprints -- probably from children -- near the spent 
shell casings at the attack site.  The attack occurred 25 kilometers 
northwest of Owiny-Kibul, the assembly area designated under current 
peace negotiations for the LRA elements east of the Nile.  (Comment: 
 the attack is one in a series of ambushes along roads outside Juba 
- see reftels.  End comment.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Two Killed Outright, Others Scatter into Forest 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The truck driver, James Ochit, stopped close to the front 
line of attackers when the ambush began.  As he did, a round fired 
by one of the attackers grazed his shin.  Gunfire killed two people 
in the truck cab, and injured one other.  As the people in the back 
of the truck started jumping out and fleeing to the north side of 
the road, Kasara said she saw approximately 35 more LRA rebels 
coming out of the brush on the south side of the road, all firing 
weapons in their direction.  As the passengers fled to the north, 
some of the attackers shouted, "shoot the people who run." 
 
------------------------------ 
SPLA Patrol Engages Assailants 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) While the occupants of the vehicle ran from the scene of 
the ambush, the attackers killed two additional people and wounded 
four others.  Rebels climbed onto the truck and threw the 
passengers' personal belongings onto the road while others moved it 
to the brush on the south side of the ambush site.  As this 
happened, three SPLA soldiers riding motorcycles armed with 
Kalashnikov rifles approached the site from the direction of Magwi. 
The soldiers stopped approximately 100 meters short of the ambush 
site and engaged the rebels from the north side of the road.  The 
rebels continued to empty the truck of all the belongings then 
looted the dead victims of their shirts and shoes and attempted to 
gather the pants while engaging the three SPLA soldiers.  Several 
minutes after their initial engagement on the truck, and when the 
truck was empty, the rebels fled in the direction of Womer Mountain, 
1.2 kilometers south of the ambush location. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Survivors Return to Juba Four Days Later 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The driver and passengers of the truck ran northeast in the 
direction of Magwi through the brush away from the ambush site 
during the engagement between the SPLA soldiers and rebels.  After 
the shooting stopped, the driver and passengers continued through 
the brush until they reached the village of Payikwara.  The 
villagers helped the driver retrieve his truck from the ambush site 
later; he gathered the passengers and drove back to Magwi, where 
they remained for the next several days. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Kasara departed Magwi again for Juba on January 6 in a 
truck heading in the direction of Pagiri junction.  She saw the 
 
KHARTOUM 00000055  002 OF 002 
 
 
ambush site, but did not see any of the belongings that were taken 
during the attack.  Kasara remained in Pagiri overnight and then 
continued on to Juba the next day.  During the trip to Juba, she saw 
an additional three vehicles she believed assailants ambushed and 
burned.  She did not see any bodies at any of the attack sites. 
 
HUME