SPLA-IO fumes over fresh attacks in Unity State
The Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLM-IO) has accused forces loyal to the Koch County Commissioner, Koang Biel Char, of attacks. The Unity State incident comes barely two days after signing the deal to commit to signing the deal to align the forces.
The Spokesperson of the SPLA-IO Forces, Lam Paul Gabriel, said their forces were attacked in Mirmir and the SPLA-IO positions in Baow and Padeh.
“This evening, Koch County Commissioner moved his forces out of Mirmir and attacked the SPLA-IO positions of Baow and Padeh just one day after the principals recommitted to COHA in Juba on 3/04/2022,” Lam said.
He added: ‘‘This aggression happened despite a series of communications made to the commissioner from the JDB and NTC leadership.”
The Chairperson of the Information and Communications Committee and the Spokesperson of SPLM-IO, Dhoal Koryom Lingling, said the attackers burned houses in Jiaath and Dar villages of Leer County but did not mention casualties.
“The Commissioner of Koch County, Honorable Koang Biel Char Commonly known as Koang Nyalualgo attacked Jiaath, Dar and Leer Cattle Camp yesterday evening in Leer County, Unity State. The attackers were repulsed by the SPLA IO forces of the 4thB Division Infantry,” Lingling claimed.
Call for peace
He called upon the peace monitoring bodies to intervene and investigate what he termed a violation of the recently signed cessation of hostilities agreement.
“As the attack was intensified at night, some houses were burned in Jiaath and Dar Villages of Leer County. We call upon all peace mechanisms to look into such violations, “he added.
When contacted for further comments, Col Lam Paul did not respond.
No SSPDF in Koch
The Spokesperson of the SSPDF, Maj Gen Lul Ruai Koang, said he did not want to comment on the accusation from the SPLA-IO Spokesperson.
But in February, Maj Gen Lul Ruai said the SSPDF had their commanders and could not be commanded by commissioners, adding that the national army was not present in Koch County.
He dismissed the accusations that the commissioner of Koch County commanded forces to attack SPLA-IO cantonment sites in Nasir and Mimir, adding that the attacks could have been from the SPLA-IO forces who defected to the Kit Gwang faction.
“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,” Lul said.
“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.”
Call to probe
The Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), Edmund Yakani, yesterday said that CTSAMVM should reveal the party that has got involved in the violation because the ground commanders were too committed to violence other than peace.
“Immediately, CTSAMVM needs to investigate these violations, and if CTSAMVM investigates these violations, the next thing is to name the party responsible for the violation,” Yakani said.
“I feel that the ground commanders of both SPLA-IO and SSPDF are much more committed to violence than peace. They use violence as an access point to their livelihood. Because the fighting happened two days after the signing of the commitment.”
He called upon President Salva Kiir and Dr Riek Machar Teny to command their ground commanders to report to Juba and be held accountable for the violation, adding that the clashes indicated a wrong beginning and a lack of trust and confidence in observing the cessation of hostilities agreement.
“The respective parties’ leaderships need to discipline the ground commanders that were involved in violating the ceasefire. So, here comes the responsibility of the President as the Commander-in-Chief of the SSPDF and Dr Riek Machar as the commander-in-chief of the SPLA-IO,” the CEPO boss added.
“They have the responsibility to hold the ground commanders accountable immediately. So the best thing they can show is political will, I wish they immediately call the ground commanders to report to Juba for discipline and to be held accountable. “
