{"id":3552,"date":"2025-03-10T17:43:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T15:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/?p=3552"},"modified":"2025-03-10T17:43:29","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T15:43:29","slug":"south-sudan-peoples-defense-forces-urges-allies-of-riek-machar-to-return-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/?p=3552","title":{"rendered":"South Sudan People’s Defense Forces Urges Allies of Riek Machar to Return to Work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Emmanuel Michael Gatjik<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) have called on military officers loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar to return to work following reports that some of them fled after recent clashes in the Nasser area, Upper Nile State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This call comes amid rising tensions in Juba and other parts of the country following a deadly incident during a United Nations evacuation operation in Nasser on Friday. Major General Dak, the commander of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces in Nasser, along with several soldiers, were killed during the operation, and a member of the United Nations crew also died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The evacuation operation was part of an effort to ease escalating tensions after clashes between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces and the White Army, an armed youth group from the Nuer ethnic group. The White Army had joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, the White Army captured army barracks in Nasser after a violent battle with government forces, resulting in the death of Major General Dak and his soldiers. It is alleged that the United Nations helicopter involved in the evacuation came under heavy fire during the operation, which was organized by the SPLM-IO to rescue soldiers trapped by the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South Sudan People’s Defense Forces accused the leadership of the SPLM-IO of orchestrating the crisis in Nasser, further straining relations between the two organizations. In response, several senior officials from the SPLM-IO were detained in Juba earlier this week, including Gabriel Duop Lam, Deputy Head of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces and Chief of Staff of the SPLM-IO Army, and Minister of Petroleum, Fuad Kang Chol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2018 agreement, which aimed to integrate military forces in the country, has not been fully implemented yet. Both President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar have faced difficulties in integrating their forces into a unified national army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, the spokesperson for the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces, General Lul Ruai Kong, called on former opposition officers who had been integrated into the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces to return to work. He acknowledged that some of them had gone into hiding due to the increasing tensions but emphasized that the clashes in Nasser were not their fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe discovered that some former opposition officers who were integrated into the People’s Defense Forces and other forces under the First Command had hidden. We appeal to these officers to return to work. What happened in Nasser is not their problem, and they are no longer considered opposition,\u201d General Kong said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Kwang also added that the body of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces commander killed in the battles had been transported to Juba for burial, with arrangements still being made for the burial location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stressed that this issue should not be viewed as a tribal matter and urged the public not to take the law into their own hands. “This is a national issue, not a tribal issue. We ask the public not to seek revenge,” he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spokesperson also thanked the residents of the Ulang and Akobo areas for their help in protecting the trapped soldiers. According to reports, local authorities and the White Army are protecting over 71 individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We thank you for your patriotism and nationality. We urge our security forces to remain on high alert and ready to receive our soldiers, who are expected to be escorted to the nearest barracks,” General Kwang said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also revealed that some individuals died while attempting to flee the fighting, but official data on casualties was not yet available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about the Nasser base that was captured during the battles, General Kwang declined to confirm any immediate change but mentioned that talks were still ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Emmanuel Michael Gatjik The South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) have called on military officers loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar to return to work following reports that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3552"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3554,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3552\/revisions\/3554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}