South Sudan army downplays ongoing fighting around Juba
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Elisabeth Janaina
Aug 3, 2016, 10:06:55 AM8/3/16
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South Sudan army downplays ongoing fighting around Juba
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SPLA soldiers stand to attention at a containment site outside Juba on
April 14, 2016 (AFP Photo)
August 2, 2016 (JUBA) - The command of the Sudan People’s Liberation
Army (SPLA), a co-national army with ‘SPLA in Opposition’ in South
Sudan, has issued a statement downplaying reports that it has been
engaged in an active combat with its rival army, the SPLA-IO under the
leadership of former First Vice President, Riek Machar.
Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang, who speaks for the government forces
denied on Tuesday that there was major offensive over the weekend, but
admitted there was "small fighting" between rival forces. This is
contrary to the reports from the opposition faction and the United
Nations.
“There was no heavy fighting around Juba. This is a physiological
warfare being waged by anti-peace elements and to scare civilians. The
reality is that our forces met reconnaissance and engaged them. They
tried to put up some resistance, but at the end they were overcome and
they fled to different locations," said Koang in a statement also
broadcast by the state owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation
(SSBC).
Koang also accused the armed opposition forces of shelling the
government military positions in Nasir town in Upper Nile, a claim the
opposition denied and instead accused the government forces of
initiating the attack on their position on the other side of the Sobat
River.
The military spokesperson said the situation in Nasir was now calm on
Tuesday and that the government was still in full control of Nasir
town. He denied a loss of “even one centimeter to the anti-peace
elements."
Government’s Latjor state information minister, Peter Hoth Tuach, told
Sudan Tribune in a separate interview on Monday that the position of
the government forces in Nasir came under sustained shelling for two
days from across the Sobat River, adding the SPLA forces in the area
responded in self-defense.
He added that the limited attack which the rebels tried across the
river was repulsed describing it as "mere skirmishes."
“War is not the interest of anybody and we call [on] all our people to
disregard the rumours from the internet. The government is committed
to implementing peace and the SPLA-IO forces should also demonstrate
the same commitment by giving out clear instructions to their field
commanders to observe the ceasefire. On our side, the ceasefire which
the president declared on July 11, 2016, is being observed by our
gallant SPLA forces wherever they are deployed in the state,”
explained minister Tuach.
Machar’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, on Tuesday said heavy
fighting has been going on in the bushes on Juba-Yei road, Juba-Mundri
road and in the northwest of the capital in Katigiri area, as the
opposition forces were fighting back in self-defence against over
10,000 President Kiir’s forces who were on offensive trying to hunt
for Machar.
He said “several hundreds” of President Kiir’s forces have been
already killed in the forests, but the government did not want to tell
the truth about what was really happening in the bushes in order not
to demoralize its soldiers and to deceive the citizens in Juba.
He warned that should the offensive continue, the opposition forces
will be forced to move on Juba, a claim which President Kiir’s faction
dismissed as unachievable.
The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the highest
body which monitors the peace agreement signed in August last year,
has issued a statement calling on President Kiir to stop deploying
forces to hunt for Machar in the bushes around Juba. United Nations
has also called on the two warring parties to stop the ongoing
fighting “around Juba.”
Hundreds of wounded soldiers have been seen in hospitals in the
capital brought from the frontlines, an indication that there is
fighting going on somewhere.
Also, hundreds of soldiers belonging to the government, mainly from
the Dinka ethnic group, have fled to the United Nations protection of
civilian’s site at Jebel’s PoC2 in Juba, including a number of senior
army officers who retreated from the frontlines.
A senior military official loyal to President Kiir told Sudan Tribune
on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal that heavy fighting had
been taking place over the weekend around Juba. He also revealed that
the government incurred heavy losses, adding that recently “police
forces including wildlife and national security forces have been
deployed to the frontlines to back up the troops.”
South Sudan’s government has rejected any deployment of additional
third party force despite the opposition’s acceptance in order to
separate the two forces and guarantee protection of the rival
leaderships, their officials and the citizens always caught in
crossfire or targeted.
(ST)
Comments on the Sudan Tribune website must abide by the following
rules. Contravention of these rules will lead to the user losing their
Sudan Tribune account with immediate effect.
- No inciting violence
- No inappropriate or offensive language
- No racism, tribalism or sectarianism
- No inappropriate or derogatory remarks
- No deviation from the topic of the article
- No advertising, spamming or links
- No incomprehensible comments
Due to the unprecedented amount of racist and offensive language on
the site, Sudan Tribune tries to vet all comments on the site.
There is now also a limit of 400 words per comment. If you want to
express yourself in more detail than this allows, please e-mail your
comment as an article to com...@sudantribune.com
Kind regards,
The Sudan Tribune editorial team.
3 August 09:01, by Dengda
My question to all Nuer both intellectuals and non. Can all South
Sudanese trust you to lead the country now?
Disunity among you, killing civilians and fighting war at your
backyard! I been IO supporters since day one I heard massive massacred
of Nuer civilians and formation of IO. But now can you blame anyone
else? At the point you are about to achieved something tangible you
divided yourself.
repondre message
3 August 09:08, by Dengda
I am typical Bor Dinka and I have been supporting IO not Riek
in particular, can you help me naming your disunity among you people,
Taban, Gadet and other generals, Changson, Lul Ruai, and many more you
know yourself. Do you have right to blame Jieng Council of Elders who
plays that politic of dividing and rule you again? Better for you to
get out of stage of politics and go and organised yourself
repondre message
3 August 09:52, by Force 1
Please deng, don’t use the name BOR, "#Buor" are not
pinheads as you are.
repondre message
3 August 11:59, by Dengda
@ force 1, I am Typical Bor like it or not you won’t
change me. I know you have problem with facts and trust. eliminate
Riek from the scene of politic is not quick fix or shortcut, but
politically smartness. He almost gone by ballot in 2018, I don’t want
him to be pain at the neck just like Joseph Konyi. Get that right
please. If you are really Bor, you would know that Bor Dinka are
cont..
repondre message
3 August 12:04, by Dengda
Soft target from Nuer aggression and should be
mindful of that, not positions of Kuol and Makeui that are important,
but land peaceful living. You can’t walk in Anyider nor Ajahger with
peace of mind without being shot. Do you know what cause that
dissertation?. Think Big, Bor land is an island of sea of enemies
think about that too and then go on preach war and militarily might.
Politic is dynam
repondre message
3 August 16:08, by Ker.
Dengda what legitimate target of Bor to white
army ar you talking about if you ar not fool and mouthpieces of rebel
as confirm by your own statement that you were IO supporter from day.
plz mine your business
repondre message
3 August 11:52, by Dengda
I am simply advising you because nationalist and fair
minded. Don’t Equatorians to jump on board fight, because they not
Nilotic people, you can hear vocally supporting you but they can’t
practical do it. Riek now is being hunt, on ticket of betrayal in
their hind out areas by them. please refer to Wani speeches when
address SPLM-LA in SPLM house. I have in Juba for a year now, facing
multiples
repondre message
3 August 09:30, by William Atak Garang.
I always feel pity when I see S. Sudanese killing themselves for
meaningless war! I don’t believe that Juba become a war zone to the
politician and warlords who are not interesting in the stability of
our region. God will help us from this turmoils.
Article
Comments (8)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
facebookmyspacetwitterbuzzyahoo
SPLA soldiers stand to attention at a containment site outside Juba on
April 14, 2016 (AFP Photo)
August 2, 2016 (JUBA) - The command of the Sudan People’s Liberation
Army (SPLA), a co-national army with ‘SPLA in Opposition’ in South
Sudan, has issued a statement downplaying reports that it has been
engaged in an active combat with its rival army, the SPLA-IO under the
leadership of former First Vice President, Riek Machar.
Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang, who speaks for the government forces
denied on Tuesday that there was major offensive over the weekend, but
admitted there was "small fighting" between rival forces. This is
contrary to the reports from the opposition faction and the United
Nations.
“There was no heavy fighting around Juba. This is a physiological
warfare being waged by anti-peace elements and to scare civilians. The
reality is that our forces met reconnaissance and engaged them. They
tried to put up some resistance, but at the end they were overcome and
they fled to different locations," said Koang in a statement also
broadcast by the state owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation
(SSBC).
Koang also accused the armed opposition forces of shelling the
government military positions in Nasir town in Upper Nile, a claim the
opposition denied and instead accused the government forces of
initiating the attack on their position on the other side of the Sobat
River.
The military spokesperson said the situation in Nasir was now calm on
Tuesday and that the government was still in full control of Nasir
town. He denied a loss of “even one centimeter to the anti-peace
elements."
Government’s Latjor state information minister, Peter Hoth Tuach, told
Sudan Tribune in a separate interview on Monday that the position of
the government forces in Nasir came under sustained shelling for two
days from across the Sobat River, adding the SPLA forces in the area
responded in self-defense.
He added that the limited attack which the rebels tried across the
river was repulsed describing it as "mere skirmishes."
“War is not the interest of anybody and we call [on] all our people to
disregard the rumours from the internet. The government is committed
to implementing peace and the SPLA-IO forces should also demonstrate
the same commitment by giving out clear instructions to their field
commanders to observe the ceasefire. On our side, the ceasefire which
the president declared on July 11, 2016, is being observed by our
gallant SPLA forces wherever they are deployed in the state,”
explained minister Tuach.
Machar’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, on Tuesday said heavy
fighting has been going on in the bushes on Juba-Yei road, Juba-Mundri
road and in the northwest of the capital in Katigiri area, as the
opposition forces were fighting back in self-defence against over
10,000 President Kiir’s forces who were on offensive trying to hunt
for Machar.
He said “several hundreds” of President Kiir’s forces have been
already killed in the forests, but the government did not want to tell
the truth about what was really happening in the bushes in order not
to demoralize its soldiers and to deceive the citizens in Juba.
He warned that should the offensive continue, the opposition forces
will be forced to move on Juba, a claim which President Kiir’s faction
dismissed as unachievable.
The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the highest
body which monitors the peace agreement signed in August last year,
has issued a statement calling on President Kiir to stop deploying
forces to hunt for Machar in the bushes around Juba. United Nations
has also called on the two warring parties to stop the ongoing
fighting “around Juba.”
Hundreds of wounded soldiers have been seen in hospitals in the
capital brought from the frontlines, an indication that there is
fighting going on somewhere.
Also, hundreds of soldiers belonging to the government, mainly from
the Dinka ethnic group, have fled to the United Nations protection of
civilian’s site at Jebel’s PoC2 in Juba, including a number of senior
army officers who retreated from the frontlines.
A senior military official loyal to President Kiir told Sudan Tribune
on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal that heavy fighting had
been taking place over the weekend around Juba. He also revealed that
the government incurred heavy losses, adding that recently “police
forces including wildlife and national security forces have been
deployed to the frontlines to back up the troops.”
South Sudan’s government has rejected any deployment of additional
third party force despite the opposition’s acceptance in order to
separate the two forces and guarantee protection of the rival
leaderships, their officials and the citizens always caught in
crossfire or targeted.
(ST)
Comments on the Sudan Tribune website must abide by the following
rules. Contravention of these rules will lead to the user losing their
Sudan Tribune account with immediate effect.
- No inciting violence
- No inappropriate or offensive language
- No racism, tribalism or sectarianism
- No inappropriate or derogatory remarks
- No deviation from the topic of the article
- No advertising, spamming or links
- No incomprehensible comments
Due to the unprecedented amount of racist and offensive language on
the site, Sudan Tribune tries to vet all comments on the site.
There is now also a limit of 400 words per comment. If you want to
express yourself in more detail than this allows, please e-mail your
comment as an article to com...@sudantribune.com
Kind regards,
The Sudan Tribune editorial team.
3 August 09:01, by Dengda
My question to all Nuer both intellectuals and non. Can all South
Sudanese trust you to lead the country now?
Disunity among you, killing civilians and fighting war at your
backyard! I been IO supporters since day one I heard massive massacred
of Nuer civilians and formation of IO. But now can you blame anyone
else? At the point you are about to achieved something tangible you
divided yourself.
repondre message
3 August 09:08, by Dengda
I am typical Bor Dinka and I have been supporting IO not Riek
in particular, can you help me naming your disunity among you people,
Taban, Gadet and other generals, Changson, Lul Ruai, and many more you
know yourself. Do you have right to blame Jieng Council of Elders who
plays that politic of dividing and rule you again? Better for you to
get out of stage of politics and go and organised yourself
repondre message
3 August 09:52, by Force 1
Please deng, don’t use the name BOR, "#Buor" are not
pinheads as you are.
repondre message
3 August 11:59, by Dengda
@ force 1, I am Typical Bor like it or not you won’t
change me. I know you have problem with facts and trust. eliminate
Riek from the scene of politic is not quick fix or shortcut, but
politically smartness. He almost gone by ballot in 2018, I don’t want
him to be pain at the neck just like Joseph Konyi. Get that right
please. If you are really Bor, you would know that Bor Dinka are
cont..
repondre message
3 August 12:04, by Dengda
Soft target from Nuer aggression and should be
mindful of that, not positions of Kuol and Makeui that are important,
but land peaceful living. You can’t walk in Anyider nor Ajahger with
peace of mind without being shot. Do you know what cause that
dissertation?. Think Big, Bor land is an island of sea of enemies
think about that too and then go on preach war and militarily might.
Politic is dynam
repondre message
3 August 16:08, by Ker.
Dengda what legitimate target of Bor to white
army ar you talking about if you ar not fool and mouthpieces of rebel
as confirm by your own statement that you were IO supporter from day.
plz mine your business
repondre message
3 August 11:52, by Dengda
I am simply advising you because nationalist and fair
minded. Don’t Equatorians to jump on board fight, because they not
Nilotic people, you can hear vocally supporting you but they can’t
practical do it. Riek now is being hunt, on ticket of betrayal in
their hind out areas by them. please refer to Wani speeches when
address SPLM-LA in SPLM house. I have in Juba for a year now, facing
multiples
repondre message
3 August 09:30, by William Atak Garang.
I always feel pity when I see S. Sudanese killing themselves for
meaningless war! I don’t believe that Juba become a war zone to the
politician and warlords who are not interesting in the stability of
our region. God will help us from this turmoils.
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