Gatwech seizes Mirmir from Machar, again
The commander of SPLA-IO Kit Gwang forces, Gatkhor Tut Chuol has said their forces are in full control of Mirmir, the cantonment site controlled by Dr. Riek Machar’s forces.
Chuol said they took control of the Mirmir cantonment site yesterday at 11:00 am after pushing the rival SPLA-IO faction to Padiar and Ruweng areas.
“The SPLA-IO forces attacked us at eleven o’clock in Padiar. We repulsed them until we captured the Mirmir cantonment site. The SPLA-IO have gone to Padiar and Ruweng, “he said.
Attempts to reach the commander of the SPLA-IO forces, Maj Gen George Gatbany Chuol, were futile as the spokesperson of the SPLA-IO forces Col. Lam Paul Gabriel did not comment on the attack and capturing of the Mirmir cantonment site.
This has been the fourth clash between the Kit Gwang and the SPLA-IO forces since the signing of the Khartoum Peace Agreement between Kit Gwang forces and the government delegation led by the Presidential Security Advisor, Tut Gatluak Manime.
SSPDF accused
On Thursday, the Spokesperson of SPLA-IO forces, Col Lam Paul Gabriel, accused the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) of not controlling Kit Gwang forces which had signed a peace agreement with them.
Col. Lam claimed the SSPDF had failed in the implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) at the expense of what he called a “defection agreement” with the Kit Gwang faction of SPLA-IO.
“Mirmir is a cantonment site under the command and control of the Joint Defence Board (JDB). Secondly, the Kit Gwang elements signed a defection agreement with the SSPDF in Khartoum last month. As a result, it is not only a violation from them but also a complete proxy war waged by our peace partner against the SPLA-IO in Mirmir cantonment,” Col. Lam stated.
Lam said the forces which attacked them were commanded by the commissioner of Koch County.
He called for the speedy implementation of the peace agreement so that such unnecessary attacks might stop.
“Completion of the security arrangements is the only way forward. War of proxy cannot bring peace but more violence and displacement of innocent civilians,” he concluded.
Not us
When asked, the spokesperson of SSPDF, Maj Gen Lul Ruai Koang, dismissed the claim, saying the SSPDF is not being commanded by commissioners.
He blamed the continued clashes on the behaviour of SPLA-IO forces, saying that they do attack those who defect from them, and so that might have been what triggered the clashes between the Kit Gwang forces backed by the armed civilians in the area.
“The commissioner of Koch County does not have forces under his command. We don’t have our own forces that are being commanded by the commissioner. We have our regular commander who commands our troops. So, in the first place, the accusation on that basis that our commissioner ordered forces to attack them is not true because we don’t have forces at Mirmir, our forces are in Leer,” Maj Gen Lul said.
He added that they were not in full control of the Kit Gwang since they had not been integrated.
Lul stressed that the process of integration was a long process that would take three months as per the agreement.
