Ugandan and South Sudanese troops clashed near their shared border, leaving casualties and forcing thousands to flee, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
The skirmish erupted Monday in Kajo Keji County, Central Equatoria State, where Uganda has deployed special forces to support South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir.
Uganda has long backed Kiir against his rival, Riek Machar, whose support base lies in the Nuer ethnic community of South Sudan.
South Sudan’s army described the incident as an exchange of fire between the “armies of two sisterly Republics” and pledged to investigate.
Military chiefs from both countries reportedly spoke to contain the fallout and ensure that hostilities did not escalate further.
Local officials in Kajo Keji said the Ugandan attack caused deaths and injuries on both sides, displacing civilians into nearby bushes, churches, and schools.
Uganda intervened in South Sudan’s civil war in 2013, just two years after the nation’s independence, backing Kiir’s government militarily.
The five-year conflict between Kiir and Machar killed nearly 400,000 people before a fragile peace deal was signed in 2018.
That peace agreement has since frayed, with Kiir sidelining Machar, igniting fears that ethnic violence may once again engulf the region.
Uganda’s army faces accusations of using banned incendiary weapons—barrel bombs containing flammable chemicals—against Nuer militias in northeastern South Sudan.
Kampala has rejected the allegations, but tensions remain high as regional stability hangs in the balance.
