Cross-border lorries strike over South Sudan killings

(www.kbc.co.ke)

About 1,000 lorries from across East Africa have stopped at the main crossing point between Uganda and South Sudan after their drivers went on strike.

They are refusing to move until the South Sudanese government offers them protection.

Kenya suspended all deliveries to the country following the killing of two Kenyan truckers in an ambush in South Sudan along the Nimule-Juba highway on Sunday.

At least 30 traders and lorry drivers from across East Africa have been killed this year on the road from the Ugandan border to the South Sudanese capital, Juba.

The highway is notorious for ambushes and illegal roadblocks by some of the militia groups in South Sudan.

The country returned to normalcy after seven years of war in February last year, following the formation of a transitional government of national unity.

However, some groups have refused to sign the peace deal, allowing continued sporadic attacks on civilians across the country.

South Sudan, which is recovering from a brutal civil war, is heavily dependent on its neighbours for essential supplies.

The strike comes a few months after the Kenya Transporters Association raised concerns over the number of Kenyan trucks being set ablaze and drivers killed in South Sudan.

The association told its members to withdraw their services from South Sudan immediately until security was assured.