High-ranking opposition commander allied to Gatwech dies in Khartoum

JUBA, FEBRUARY 9^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – A senior opposition commander allied to General Simon Gatwech Dual, the leader of the breakaway SPLA-IO Kitgwang faction, passed away on Wednesday in the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

In a statement extended to Sudans Post, the SPLA-IO Kitgwang faction spokesman Brig. Gen. Alfred Gach Thot said Lt. Gen. Simon Gatmai Keak, the administration chief for its zonal command in Unity state, passed on while on treatment in Khartoum.

“The SPLA-IO KD military leadership has learned with utmost dismay and sorrow the passing on of Lt. Gen. Simon Gatmai Keak, the administration commander, petroleum Zone (Bentiu),” the statement reads in part.

“He passed on today at evening hours, 6.00 PM on the 08/2/2023 in Khartoum, Sudan. The late General has been suffering from illness for long time which resulted to his demise,” the statement further added.

The statement extended the group’s “sympathies and prayers to the family and friends of late Lt. Gen. Simon Gatmai Keak and to the entire South Sudanese.”