Machar asks Sudan to detain Gen. Gatwech, Olony to prevent them from creating ‘more insecurity’

JUBA — South Sudan’s First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny has asked the Sudanese government to keep two senior opposition commanders, General Simin Gatwech Dual and General Johnson Olony, in Khartoum in an attempt to prevent them from creating more ‘insecurity.’

This comes hours after a deadly fighting between rival factions, each loyal to Machar and Gen. Gatwech, clashed at Magenis, an area in northern part of South Sudan where opposition forces are located.

In a statement following the clash, Machar-allied military spokesman Colonel Lam Paul Gabriel who is in Juba claimed that General Johnson Olony and Gatwech Dual had fled to Sudan following an alleged defeat during the fighting.

He asked the Sudanese government to keep the two generals in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to prevent them from creating more wars as various factions implement a revitalized version of a 2018 peace agreement.

“The SPLA-IO is aware that Gen. Gatwech Dual and Lt. Gen. Johnson Ulony were evacuated to Sudan,” Lam said.

“The SPLA-IO leadership request the Sudan Government to maintain its neutrality by keeping the two in Sudan and not to allow them come back and cause more insecurity in the area,” he added.

He further urged “the forces that were conditioned to join the Kitgwang elements to come back to the SPLA-IO under the leadership of H.E Dr Riek Machar Teny.”