Interior minister admits involvement of South Sudanese in Sudan conflict

JUBA – South Sudan’s interior minister, Angelina Teny, has confirmed the presence of her country’s nationals in the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

In November 2023, photos of some individuals from South Sudan were seen on social media wearing the RSF uniform.

The photos of the South Sudanese armed men were released with a comment indicating that the South Sudanese combatants were deployed at the RSF sites in Khartoum Bahri.

In another photo, it is written: “Soldiers of Salva Kiir, Tut Gatluak, and Stephen Buay are at the Sports City (in southern Khartoum).”

Teny, in her presentation during the governors’ forum in Juba, said her ministry has received official communication of many South Sudan nationals fighting on both sides since the conflict erupted in April.

“There is something strange happening, a lot of South Sudanese are also involved and engaging in war in Sudan on both sides. This has been officially reported,” Teny said last week.

The senior government official cautioned that the trend could lead to a proliferation of firearms in South Sudan.

“We are very concerned that they are getting access to these arms and you never know where these arms are going end up or what they could be used for. It is a concern for us. We don’t yet have evidence of arms crossing into South Sudan but the chances of it happening are very real,” she said.

Observers and security experts have pointed out that rival factions in Sudan have resorted to recruiting foreign nationals into their ranks, seeking to bolster their military capabilities.

Some of these fighters include South Sudanese individuals who previously served in the Sudanese armed forces and opted to remain in Sudan after South Sudan’s secession in 2011.

The outbreak of conflict in 2013 and 2016 dissuaded them from returning definitively.

However, when the conflict erupted with the RSF, they were forced to choose a side.

Some returned to South Sudan, while others responded to a call by General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, to report to the nearest military barracks with their military identification numbers.