JUBA, Jan 24 – The head of South Sudan’s armed forces has given soldiers seven days to “crush the rebellion” in the east that is a potential threat to the capital, Juba.
Recently, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) has attacked and captured several areas in Jonglei state, a local journalist told the BBC, though this could not be independently verified. The latest fighting has threatened Jonglei’s capital, Bor, two hours’ drive from Juba.
SPLA-IO’s leader, suspended First Vice-President Riek Machar, is currently on trial on charges of murder, treason and crimes against humanity, which he denies.
There are fears that the fighting could re-ignite a full-blown civil war in the country.
Conflict in South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, broke out in 2013, two years after independence, when President Salva Kiir accused Machar of plotting to overthrow him.
A 2018 peace deal ended the civil war that had killed nearly 400,000 people, but it has never been properly implemented and the relationship between Kiir and Machar has become increasingly strained amid ethnic tensions and sporadic violence.
Reinforcements from the South Sudanese army have now been deployed to Bor, which was the first place to be captured by opposition forces in the 2013-2018 conflict. The town is seen as a strategic staging post on the way to the capital.
“We brought you here for a mission,” chief of the defence force Gen Paul Nang Majok told his troops.
“I am giving you seven days only to finish the mission – to crush the rebellion in those areas and recapture them.”
The South Sudanese army is being supported by soldiers from Uganda. Their exact number is not known. One report put the figure at 4,000, but this has not been confirmed.
The soldiers are now preparing to advance into the areas held by SPLA-IO forces, national broadcaster SSBC has reported.
