500 soldiers defect from SSPDF to SPLA-IO in Unity State

GUIT – A significant group of soldiers previously aligned with the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) has declared their allegiance to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) in Unity State.

The mass defection, which occurred on Monday, unfolded in Guit County’s Chot Yiel area.

Colonel Kun Tut Chiok, the leading figure of the defected group, officially announced the shift, revealing that approximately 500 soldiers and several officers had joined the SPLA-IO ranks.

The defection included one other officer with the rank of colonel, eight lieutenant colonels, twenty captains, 32 first lieutenants, and 44 second lieutenants, totaling 516 soldiers.

While the specific motivations behind their decision remain undisclosed, Colonel Chiok did not provide explicit reasons for the defection.

Confirming the defection, SPLA-IO sector two spokesman Kerbino Yai Pazale noted that the group expressed frustration with the slow, and selective integration process into the SSPDF.

“Yes, they defected yesterday in Guit County. Their stated reason is that the government’s lack of commitment to peace and failure to integrate them into the SSPDF, as promised when they defected from the SPLA-IO a few years ago,” he told Sudans Post in Bentiu.

This defection adds another layer of complexity to the ongoing political and military tensions in Unity State.

The SPLA-IO, South Sudan’s main armed opposition, has been engaged in a tribal and prolonged conflict with government forces, including the SSPDF, for several years.

In September 2018, the group signed a revised version of a 2015 peace agreement with the government, which has largely held across the nation, albeit clashes with other non-signatory groups persist.

Recent events have seen around 17 senior military officers from the government-aligned National People’s Alliance Movement (NPAM), formerly under the leadership of the ex-SPLA-IO governor of Unity State, defecting from the SSPDF to the SPLA-IO.

Tensions escalated in Bentiu earlier this month when the government issued an ultimatum to SPLA-IO generals in the city for peace implementation to vacate the area.

Officials claimed this measure was to deescalate tensions and prevent a return to conflict.

This latest wave of defections from the SSPDF could potentially shift the power dynamics in Unity State and significantly impact the ongoing conflict.

It also coincides with the eruption of fighting today after the SSPDF and allied militias launched an assault on an SPLA-IO base outside Leer town.