Dau Aturjong forces join SPLA in Northern Bahr al Ghazal GOK MACHAR (20 Jul.)
Hundreds of troops loyal to the defected SPLA-IO General Dau Aturjong Nyuol have joined the SPLA in Northern Bahr al Ghazal, according to officials and a commander in the former opposition force. They arrived today in the Gok Machar area. SPLA Division 3 Commander Santino Deng Wol confirmed the arrival of the troops, saying they will be re-trained and integrated into SPLA. “General Dau Aturjong belonged to the [SPLM] IO, the forces of Riek Machar, but after Riek Machar began to wage war and attacked the presidential palace, Dau announced that he will not return to fight [for Riek] again,” said the general. He was referring to the fighting in Juba last week, which started in front of the presidential palace in unclear circumstances. One of Aturjong's field commanders, Brigadier General Deng Geng, says that he and his force have chosen to join the government because SPLM-IO leaders are not committed to the peace agreement. He announced that he arrived with his troops from East Darfur State and more are on the way. “My force is 1,500 strong. But there is another force coming to Gok Machar and another that will come tomorrow,” he said. Commenting on this development, the Commissioner of Malual North County William Anei Anei has said that the return of the Aturjong forces from the bush would improve security for citizens, allowing hunters and farms to go on their daily activities without as much fear as before. Some border areas between Sudan and South Sudan had witnessed clashes between SPLA and the SPLA-IO troops under Dau Aturjong. William explained, “The forces of General Dau are now with us and this means a lot to my people because there will be no more panic in the bush. If one goes for hunting, he or she can move freely without fear that Deng Geng is hiding somewhere to catch him or her.” He was referring to Brigadier General Deng Geng who was commanding these forces. “If you have a garden along the way to Kiir [River], you will just go normally to the garden, so it means a lot; it means stability, development and among others to my people,” Anei added. The commissioner was speaking Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday after the arrival of the first batch of defected SPLA-IO troops to their designated location of Majak Bol along the way to Kiir Adem. *Photo: Gen. Dau Aturjong (left) with SPLA spokesman Brig-Gen. Lul Ruai (Facebook/Lul Ruai)* -- To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/southsudankob View this message at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/southsudankob/topic-id/message-id For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14oq0FUYcWTmRyAVcsq_grdBaTye%3DzisDpose98W832%3DSyg%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
