Ex-Machar envoy to Egypt turned Gatwech commander deported from Sudan

RENK – A high-ranking commander of the SPLA-IO Kitgwang led by General Simon Gatwech Dual was deported by the Sudanese military intelligence on Wednesday morning over alleged connections to the rebellious paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Maj. Gen. Gatkuoth Biel Nyang was arrested on Sunday, December 10, 2023, at Rabek, White Nile State, and was deported on Wednesday at dawn and handed over by the Sudanese military intelligence to their South Sudanese counterparts at Joda of Renk County in Upper Nile state.

This is according to a senior opposition official allied to General Gatwech and who does not want to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media over the matter.

Speaking to Sudans Post separately this afternoon, SPLA-IO Kitgwang military spokesman Brig. Gen. Alfred Gach Thot confirmed Gatkuoth’s arrest by Sudanese military intelligence, but said he was not aware if he was deported today.

“I can confirm that he was arrested in Rabek on Monday by the Sudanese military intelligence agencies. The accusation on which he was arrested was that he was working for the Rapid Support Forces, and this is completely false,” he said.

“Claims of his involvement with the Rapid Support Forces are completely false. We in the opposition do not condone any association with the RSF,” the official added.

The official emphasized the opposition’s commitment to Sudanese unity and its legitimate army, stating that the RSF, a controversial paramilitary group, is unacceptable.

He highlighted the historical ties between Sudan and South Sudan and emphasized the importance of Sudanese stability for South Sudan’s own well-being.

Gatkuoth, previously the SPLM-IO ambassador to Egypt under First Vice President Riek Machar, had switched allegiances to former SPLA-IO military leader Simon Gatwech Dual when the later split from the group in June 2021.

He was then commissioned to the rank of major general and was, until his deportation, the official coordinator of security affairs between the Sudanese army and the rebel movement.

This incident follows the deportation of four other opposition commanders, previously loyal to Gatwech, over alleged RSF ties.

They are currently being held in Renk County by South Sudanese security forces.