Heavy fighting reported around Juba, as SPLA-IO claims closing in
Article
Comments (10)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
facebookmyspacetwitterbuzzyahoo
A military tank patrols along one of the main roads in the South
Sudanese capital Juba December 16, 2013 (Reuters Photo)
July 31, 2016 (JUBA) – Heavy fighting has continued in the bushes
around the South Sudanese national capital, Juba, with opposition
faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA-IO) claiming to be
closing in on the capital with the aim to take it over.
The fighting is reported to have been taking place inside deep forests
in different locations on Juba-Yei road, Juba-Mundri road and in the
northwest of the capital between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir
and opposition forces loyal to the relieved First Vice President, Riek
Machar.
“Heavy fighting has been going on for the past three days. President
Salva Kiir’s forces have been on offensive against our forces. They
are hunting for the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, with the
aim to eliminate him. However, our forces have been fighting back in
self-defence,” said James Gatdet Dak, Machar’s spokesperson.
He said their forces have been repulsing the attacks and have
inflicted heavy losses on the forces loyal to President Kiir with
“several hundreds of them killed in the forests” and a number of areas
captured in Lanya county and Katigiri.
He also claimed that the opposition forces have captured up to 21
military trucks and logistics, including bull dozers, urols [big
trucks] and small pickup trucks, in addition to different types of
rifles.
Dak added that the opposition forces have besieged Juba from different
directions and will be forced to move on to the capital to take
control of it and restore law and order.
“My leadership has been calling for prompt deployment of a third party
force to separate the two forces so that the First Vice President, Dr.
Riek Machar, can return to Juba and continue with the implementation
of the peace agreement without threats of return to violence in the
capital. But if this does not happen and President Kiir’s forces
continue to attack our forces with the aim to eliminate Dr. Machar,
our forces will be forced to capture Juba,” he said.
He further said that their forces have closed both the Juba-Yei road
and Juba-Mundri roads and are closing in on Juba.
Dak said taking control of Juba by the opposition forces would put to
an end the ongoing attacks on their forces and restore peace and
security in the capital and beyond.
Sudan Tribune could not independently verify the level of casualties
involved in the ongoing fighting in the thick forests as it is
difficult to know what is happening and no official statement has been
made by the government.
A military official loyal to President Kiir told Sudan Tribune that he
believed there have been “heavy losses” on both sides, more than the
losses incurred at J1 and Jebel Kujur’s two days of fighting.
South Sudan’s government on Friday in a cabinet meeting chaired by
President Kiir resolved not to allow a third party force to deploy in
Juba, saying the current 12,000 peacekeepers of the United Nations are
enough and only their mandate can be negotiated and reviewed.
However, on Sunday, there were unconfirmed reports that the
government’s security officials held a security meeting with the aim
to review the Friday’s decision in the wake of the threats by the
opposition forces to take over Juba.
Meanwhile, civilians have continued to flee from the capital in fear
of imminent fighting in Juba, with dozens of government troops fleeing
into the United Nations camps in the outskirt of the capital.
(ST)
Comments on the Sudan Tribune website must abide by the following
rules. Contravention of these rules will lead to the user losing their
Sudan Tribune account with immediate effect.
- No inciting violence
- No inappropriate or offensive language
- No racism, tribalism or sectarianism
- No inappropriate or derogatory remarks
- No deviation from the topic of the article
- No advertising, spamming or links
- No incomprehensible comments
Due to the unprecedented amount of racist and offensive language on
the site, Sudan Tribune tries to vet all comments on the site.
There is now also a limit of 400 words per comment. If you want to
express yourself in more detail than this allows, please e-mail your
comment as an article to [email protected]
Kind regards,
The Sudan Tribune editorial team.
31 July 22:30, by Khent
This is just a ploy by Riek to have a third force deployed in
Juba. If the rebels were really this formidable they would be in
control of Malakal, Bentiu, Nasir, Leer, Uror, Ayod, Bor and other
areas in Greater Upper Nile. This will just prove to be another piece
of propaganda.
repondre message
1 August 00:30, by jubaone
Khent,
History has it that in no single moment have jienges had a
total victory over the Nuer who have been victors all along. Now the
jienges desperately need one to at least get over this humiliation and
inferiority complex. Well, it appears more luak jienges will be needed
as canon fodder to finally achieve that. Good luck.
repondre message
1 August 01:07, by Khent
Jubaone
Is that why we destroyed their Counties in counterattacks
following massacres by Riek’s forces? Riek had to move from one Nuer
area to the other in fear of his life. The Nuer have only have been a
threat to the small Dinka sections in Upper Nile and have done anthing
to Bahr el Ghazal - our heartland, strength and core of our
population. More than 80% of our population is in...
repondre message
1 August 01:13, by Khent
..Bahr el Ghazal. Dare the Nuer to enter Bahr el
Ghazal. They tried it before but they NEVER return. These Bahr el
Ghazal people have a limit to their patience so try them and see what
happens. Matip tried it (with Khartoum’s help) and the forces he did
send did not return to Unity State.
repondre message
1 August 01:25, by Mr Point
Hello tribalists! This is not 1991.
To get peace in SS is it necessary for the Dinkas to kill
all the Nuer, and if they fail ...?
To get peace in SS is it necessary for the Nuers to kill
all the Dinkas, and if they fail ...?
Is it possible to get peace with a transitional unit government?
repondre message
1 August 01:31, by Mr Point
What will be a permanent solution to the problems of
insecurity,a broken economy and enforced displacement?
Is endless tribal war a good and effective solution?
repondre message
1 August 06:42, by Ayuiu Makuac Lam
That’s a completely white lie,
No fighting around Juba,
Riek Machar forces wants to mislead public about impossible attack.
repondre message
31 July 22:31, by Panda Odhie
Gadet is very liar if they are capable to capture city why are
they eagerly for the deployment of third force.these are white lie
made to keep supporters encourage.
repondre message
1 August 00:24, by Dinka-Defender-General
Machar is laying again. He lied to Nuer people in 1991, 2013, and
2016 about war such as the war was between Dinka and Nuer, Dinkas
dominate the government, and kiir is dictator, and so forth. Most
nuers are aware about his objectives and greedy for a position and
power.
repondre message
1 August 04:37, by Hardlinner
If mouth piece gatdet and his boss had capacity, why didn’t hey
stay on and fight government forces in juba. It quite true Riek want
to divert attention away from where he trying to escape. Event foolish
nuer have known your trick and will not surcome to your lies.
Government should hunt them down one by one and finish them. Taban is
right leader for io.
--
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/CAJb14opw6%3Dj63Nn5AmouK2EUk-CGe%3Dsug0p6SDjJEYNCYNkyow%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
