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JUBA — The parties to the revitalized peace agreement this morning have graduated more than 9000 soldiers of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF) in Upper Nile State’s capital Malakal, according to the army spokesman.
Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai said in a brief Facebook statement that the graduation ceremony which has been delayed several times was ongoing as of this hour.
“Graduation of more than 9000 [Necessary Unified Forces] is currently underway in Malakal town, Upper Nile State,” he said.
For his part, the spokesman of South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) Brig. Gen. Wijang Duop confirmed the graduation ceremony was going on and that the parties will move to Unity State’s capital Bentiu where they will graduate the last batch of the forces in phase one of the security arrangements.
“The graduation is taking place. All of us we are here and the graduation ceremony is ongoing and after this, we will move to Bentiu where we will graduate the last batch for those in phase one,” he said.
He said a total of 9558 graduated, among whom are 4834 who will be integrated into the SSPDF, 396 into the civil defense, 351 into the prison service, 853 into the wildlife service, and 3065 into the police forces.
He said 59 of them died during the training.
The senior opposition official further said the graduation ceremony in Bentiu will take place on Saturday and will mark the last batch of the forces in phase one of the security arrangements.
