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Ugandan military completes evacuation of citizens trapped in South Sudan

Xinhua, July 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

Ugandan military Wednesday said it has successfully finished the evacuation mission of thousands of citizens from the conflict-hit South Sudan, a spokesperson said here on Wednesday.

Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, the military spokesperson in a statement issued here said that last convoy of trucks carrying the last batch of citizens crossed the border on Tuesday at 21:20 local time.

He said Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) safely escorted and evacuated some 21,000 Ugandans and other nations from South Sudan to the East African country in the three phased exercise that started on last Friday.

At least 12,000 Ugandans were evacuated on Tuesday.

"The joint forces have generally succeeded in the evacuation mission. We carried out the third and last evacuation of Ugandans last evening. Hundreds of Kenyans and Rwandans were among those evacuated by UPDF," said Ankunda.

Although the military described the exercise as successful, at least five people died and 54 others injured after the vehicle they were traveling from the capital, Juba to Uganda was involved in an accident.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni last Tuesday ordered the country's military to immediately evacuate citizens trapped in the fighting between government troops of President Salva Kiir and forces loyal to Vice President Riek Machar in the capital, Juba as measure to ensure their safety and security.

At least 11 Ugandans were killed in the deadly clashes between the two rival army factions in Juba, according to the foreign affairs ministry.

Three of Ugandan troops who were on evacuation mission were last week injured after a group of unknown armed gunmen attacked one of the trucks in the convoy at Pagiri, Magwi County South Sudan's Eastern Equatorial State.

A convoy of around 50 trucks, escorted by machine gun-mounted armoured vehicles last week, crossed the border at Nimule, some 200 kilometers from Juba to help evacuate the citizens caught up in the fighting. Endit