Salva Kiir, the president of South Sudan, sent the national army to some of Upper Nile State earlier this week to put an end to continuous fighting between rival SPLA-In Opposition factions.
Fighting between the SPLA-In Opposition faction loyal to General Johnson Olony and an armed militia from Jonglei state was put under control by the deployment of troops. The most recent violent episode started in October.
Major General Lul Ruai Koang, a spokesman for the South Sudan Peoples Defense Forces (SSPDF), stated that the army is prepared to bring about tranquility in the region.
“The regular SSPDF forces are already on the ground and they have been able to ward off any attack that was being planned by the White Army. Meanwhile, we are working on the long-term solution for the ongoing insecurity,” Koang said.
Koang refused to say how many soldiers were stationed in the Fashoda region of Upper Nile State, but he did declare that the national army would “engage” if the White Army continued to defy instructions to vacate the Chollo Kingdom.
The forces are in the Upper Nile, according to the SSPDF spokesman, to safeguard civilians. He also added that they will not get involved in fighting between SPLA-In Opposition factions.
“Let the rival factions of SPLA-IO sort out their issues without necessarily targeting the local population. We have to intervene because the forces of General Olony were not able to protect the civilians in the area under his control,” Koang said.
According to Joseph Achan, the Fashoda County Commissioner, several communities in Jonglei State were completely destroyed by armed militia.
“They have come to protect the civilians and now the civilians are still scattered in the bushes. We welcome the SSPDF because they are coming to help the civilians. The attackers are still going around burning villages,” Achan told South Sudan in Focus.
The commissioner stated that the SSDPDF will get all assistance required to uphold peace and order in Fashoda County from his office and local authorities.
20,000 people have been displaced by fighting in the Upper Nile between the SPLA-IO faction led by Olony and the Kit-Gwang faction commanded by General Simon Gatwech Dual since August, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The United Nations organization for children (UNICEF) said in a statement that the most recent violence has caused the displacement of thousands of civilians, the most of whom are women and children, with many of them fleeing to refugee camps in Sudan.
Jesper Moller, the acting UNICEF representative in South Sudan, called the situation “disturbing and alarming,” adding that grave human rights violations are being reported against children and women along with increasing numbers of deaths and injuries.
UNICEF says South Sudan faces a humanitarian crisis where hunger and malnutrition are at record highs with 70% of children out of school and disease and gender-based violence rife.
“No violence against children is justifiable and we must see an end to the fighting – children’s lives depend on it,” said Moller. “UNICEF and our partners are on the ground and will continue to provide life-saving services for children and families to minimise injuries, and disease and protect lives and well-being of children.”
According to the report, “displaced or on the move from the Kodok area on the West Bank of the White Nile River” are between 22,000 and 40,000 persons.
The UN says that afflicted families are escaping to Malakal, the state capital, where more than 2,600 other displaced people have sought safety after years of local violence.