Unknown gunmen on Wednesday ambushed yet another Ugandan bus plying the Juba-Nimule road in South Sudan, Kampala security officials said.

The attack comes just a week after gunmen ambushed a Gateway Bus, killing two people and injuring one at Moli in Magwi County in South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria State.

According to the Ugandan security officials, the Wednesday incident involved a Victory Base bus at Loboi Village at Aruu Junction, at about 10:30am (0730GMT).

The bus was reportedly from Kampala, heading to the South Sudan capital, Juba.

Aswa Regional Police Spokesman Jimmy Patrick Okema confirmed the incident to the Daily Monitor on Thursday, but noted that the bus driver managed to pass through the ambush with all passengers unhurt.

“The bus was shot at several times by the armed men but luckily, the driver drove through without anyone getting hurt,” Mr Okema said.

Timely intervention

He added: “They were also lucky to have passed through the ambush due to the timely intervention of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army [SPLA] soldiers who repelled the armed men.

According to Mr Okema, the bus attacked was the fourth to have left for the South Sudanese capital that morning at the Ugandan border of Elegu in Amuru District, adding that three others that left earlier that day successfully reached Juba.

The attack comes in the wake of high insecurity reported in South Sudan following clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former Vice-President Riek Machar in July in Juba that sparked off violence.

Was burnt down

On October 10, unknown gunmen attacked three Uganda-bound buses at Jabelen in Central Equatoria State about 120km from the Ugandan border town of Elegu in Amuru District.

The vehicles attacked included one owned by Eco Bus Company that was burnt down, Gateway and Friendship whose passengers were briefly abducted and robbed of their valuables before being freed.

READ: Scores feared dead in separate attacks in South Sudan

Ugandan police and their counterpart from South Sudan recently signed an agreement to hunt down and extradite individuals believed to be behind bus attacks on Kampala-Nimule-Juba-Highway.