The Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), under the command of the First Vice President, Dr Riek Machar Teny, is blaming the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), for failing to control Kit Gwang forces who penned a peace deal with the government.

The Spokesperson of the SPLA-IO forces, Col. Lam Paul Gabriel, told The City Review that the SSPDF, with whom they are implementing the peace agreement (R-ARCSS), had failed to implement the peace agreement by failing to control the Kit Gwang forces after they signed Khartoum Peace Agreement that he termed “a defection agreement.”

The two factions of SPLA-IO confronted each other yesterday morning for the third time since the signing of the Khartoum Peace Agreement between Kit Gwang forces and the government to ensure that Kit Gwang forces were commanded by Simon Gatwech Dual and the Agwelek forces are integrated into SSPDF.

Col. Lam said their forces were attacked by forces commanded by the commissioner of Koch County at Mirmir, a designated cantonment site to SPLA-IO by the Joint Defence Board (JDB).

“Mirmir is a cantonment side under the command and control of the Joint Defense Board (JDB). Secondly, the Kit Gwang elements signed a defection agreement with the SSPDF in Khartoum last month. It is therefore not only a violation from them but a complete proxy war being waged against the SPLA-IO in Mirmir cantonment side by our peace partner,” Lam stated.

He accused the commissioner of Koch County of meddling in the peace agreement by warranting the attacks on the SPLA-IO position.

“The SPLA-IO forces repulsed the aggression in Mirmir by the anti-peace elements that came from Koch County. The attack is from Koch county commissioner, but the SSPDF is responsible for command and control of the Kit Gwang [forces]. Therefore, they should have restrained on them instead of being used by politicians to gain political status, “the SPLA-IO military spokesperson said.

The military spokesperson said the way forward to ending such violations was the completion of the security arrangements, warning that continued clashes could cause the displacement of civilians.

“Completion of the security arrangements is the only way forward. War by proxy cannot bring peace but more violence and displacement of innocent civilians,” he concluded.

Early this week, Lam vowed that SPLA-IO could not attack Kit Gwang forces because they had already been directed by their chairman to disengage considering Kit Gwang faction as part of SSPDF.

SSPDF not involved

The Spokesperson of South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), Maj Gen Lul Ruai Koang denied they were not part of the fight. He alleged that it was a routine practice by the SPLA-IO that whenever someone defected from them, they resort to attacks. Thus, he suspected that the pioneers of the clashes defected SPLA-IO forces that had joined the Kit Gwang faction.

Lul confirmed the attack but stressed that the SSPDF forces were not commanded by the commissioner and besides, they had no presence in Koch County, so, the accusation about their commissioner commanding their forces was unfounded.

Not us

“The commissioner of Koch County does not have forces under his command; we don’t have our forces that are being commanded by the commissioner. We have our regular commander who commands our troops. So, in the first place, the accusation on that basis that our commissioner ordered forces to attack them is not true because, we don’t have forces at Mirmir, our forces are in Leer,” Maj Gen Lul said.

He classified the forces that clashed and overran Mirmir as SPLA-IO forces that defected to the Kit Gwang faction and were backed up by armed civilians in the area.

The SSPDF spokesperson said that the Kit Gwang security committee had already arrived in Juba but was yet to be part of the SSPDF since the formation of the joint security committee for the implementation of the Khartoum Peace Agreement was expected within three months. He stated clearly that Kit Gwang had not yet been integrated and were yet to be part of them.

“This one has been going on now for about two months. Sometimes back then there were armed civilians that were arrested by SPLA-IO. Sometimes, back at Mirmir in Koch County, there was a disagreement between the SPLA-IO. They went around arresting civilians, and you know, most of the communities in that area are heavily armed, “he noted.

He added: “Yes, we are implementing an agreement with Kit Gwang, but they are not yet part of us because the process of reintegrating them to SSPDF is supposed to take three months.”

Kit Gwang claims victory

Yesterday afternoon, the Press Secretary of SPLA-IO Kit Gwang splinter group, James Kalany Mamuon, claimed that the forces loyal to the First Vice President, Dr Riek Machar Teny, had attacked their forces but were repulsed at Mirmir, adding that their forces were already in control of the area.

He called on South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) to hold dialogue with Dr Machar’s forces to stop attacking their positions, claiming that they were maintaining peace across the country.

 “We want SSPDF to reign on Riek Machar’s forces to stop fighting. The SSPDF will use its leverage as peace partners to pursue Riek Machar to stop the war and choose peace since he is the FVP of the country. “

Attacks had been happening since Kit Gwang chairman, Simon Gatwech Dual left Khartoum for Magenis, especially, at the cantonment sites of the SPLM/A-IO forces twice in Nasir, the headquarters of Machar’s SPLM/A, and the yesterday’s attack in Mirmir, which are both cantonment sites for Machar’s forces.

He confirmed that Gatwech was still in Magenis and said that it was not the return of Kit Gwang, the chairperson that led to clashes, claiming that their forces were attacked by the SPLA-IO forces while they were on peace negotiations in Khartoum.

“Even when we were negotiating with the government of South Sudan in Khartoum, we were attacked twice in AKobo and Nasir respectively and while our Chairman was in Khartoum. Our Chairman is for peace, not for war,” he claimed.