JUBA—South Sudan’s former first vice president Dr. Riek Machar Teny on Friday told the special court that disputes over fishing nets triggered the 2024 deadly clashes between South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) soldiers and local youth in Nasir County, Upper Nile State.
Testifying during the 127th session of his trial in Juba, Machar also outlined several confrontations between 2021 and 2021 that he said left people dead and wounded, destroyed property and displaced thousands of civilians.
He told the court that one of the deadliest confrontations occurred between February 10 and 12, 2024, following a dispute over stolen fishing nets.
According to Machar, SSPDF soldiers attacked young people near a fishing camp close to their barracks on the night of February 10, killing two young men and wounding two others. One soldier was also injured.
He said another confrontation occurred after soldiers reportedly left their barracks to collect firewood. The ensuing violence left one youth dead, four civilians wounded and two children drowned in the river.
Machar said fighting resumed on the afternoon of February 12, leaving six SSPDF soldiers dead and two others wounded.
The clashes forced civilians to flee Nasir town and surrounding villages, while homes and other property were looted and destroyed, with some houses set on fire, he told the court.
He added that a helicopter gunship was flown over Nasir by the government in what he described as a show of force.
Machar said the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) investigated the February 2024 incident and issued report 2024/06, recommending the withdrawal of SSPDF forces from the area and the deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF).
He added that CTSAMVM observed that SSPDF soldiers lacked the training needed to operate under the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and applicable national and international laws.
Machar also described earlier confrontations between February and March 2021, which he said followed the arrest of two youth leaders after a dispute between young people and government forces in Nasir town.
The arrests reportedly triggered a standoff between the police, traditional chiefs and the county commissioner on one side and SSPDF soldiers on the other over who should take custody of the detained youth.
He further told the court that 12 separate incidents of violence occurred in Nasir town and surrounding areas between January 20 and August 17, 2024. CTSAMVM subsequently recommended accelerating the deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces to replace SSPDF troops at Wec-Yar-Adiw.
Machar linked another wave of violence in October 2024 to a child custody dispute involving an SSPDF officer identified as Lt. Col. Mark and the child’s widowed mother.
He said the two had taken the matter to court, which ruled in favour of the officer, but tensions escalated when the officer attempted to take custody of the child, prompting a violent reaction from local youth and the woman’s relatives.
The two-day clashes on October 16 and 17, he said, reportedly left 13 SSPDF soldiers dead and six wounded. Five civilians, including a woman, three men and an infant, were also killed, while 14 others were wounded.
Machar added that two of the officer’s bodyguards and the child were also killed during the violence.
Following the fighting, he said local youth captured an armoured personnel carrier (APC), which government forces later recovered after calm was restored.
Machar told the court that the Nasir County Commissioner at the time, James Gatluak intervened to end the fighting. However, the violence displaced more than 20,000 civilians, many of them women and children.
He said the commissioner subsequently requested mediation by the national and state governments to prevent further escalation.
Machar and seven co-accused face serious charges, including treason, murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property, and crimes against humanity. All have denied the charges.
Prosecutors allege that forces aligned with the SPLM/A-IO and the White Army attacked a government garrison in Nasir, killing 257 soldiers, including Majur Dak, and destroying or seizing military equipment valued at approximately US$58 million.
The court adjourned the proceedings until November 11, 2026, for Machar to continue his defense statement.
