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Juba – Agencies
South Sudan’s People’s Defense Forces have confirmed the arrival of Sudanese army units that withdrew from the oil-rich Heglig area following escalating security threats from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Authorities stated that the Sudanese troops handed over their weapons and military equipment to the South Sudan People’s Army in Unity State after crossing the border.
General Johnson Olony, Deputy Chief of Staff for Mobilization and Disarmament in the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces, said in a press statement from the “Fangak” area that their forces had received the Sudanese units withdrawing from Heglig amid intensifying clashes with the RSF.
Olony explained that the arriving forces surrendered all their weapons and equipment to South Sudanese forces, and are now awaiting official directives from the governments of Sudan and South Sudan — including instructions from Sudan’s Sovereign Council Chairman, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
The general stressed that South Sudan’s People’s Defense Forces will remain neutral in the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, but will, at the same time, assume responsibility for securing Heglig and protecting its oil fields in an effort to “restore stability and peace in this troubled region,” as he put it.
These developments come as units of the Sudanese army crossed into South Sudanese territory fleeing the battles — a situation that, according to observers, necessitates increased security measures in oil-producing areas and efforts to avoid tensions that could affect relations between the two countries.
