Mundri East: Civilians flee Lakama’di as SSPDF pursues rebels

On 12 October 2025, residents of Lakama’di in Mundri East County, Western Equatoria State, fled their homes following the deployment of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF). The military presence came in response to a week of renewed clashes in Kediba between government troops and a joint force comprising the National Salvation Front (NAS) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO). Local sources reported that the SSPDF engaged in indiscriminate shooting and shelling upon entering Lakama’di, prompting widespread panic and a mass exodus of civilians into surrounding bush areas. The deployment followed the SSPDF’s recent recapture of Kediba Town, the administrative headquarters of Mundri East, which had previously been seized by opposition forces during a coordinated assault.