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The convoy of troops, armored vehicles, and logistics trucks departed the capital Juba on Saturday evening. The deployment is primarily defensive and aimed at stabilizing the security perimeter around Bor rather than launching an immediate counter-offensive against the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), a senior security source told Sudans Post.
“The reinforcement is not for an offensive operation,” said the source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the operation. “The priority is to defend Bor and stabilize the situation. At the same time, a much larger force is being prepared to eventually clear the entire state of rebel presence.”
Witnesses in Gumbo Shirkat, a neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Juba along the main highway, described a heavy military presence moving north. Residents reported a mix of troop carriers and armored vehicles, noting the scale of the movement was “unusual for a Saturday night.”
“We saw many military trucks moving fast toward Bor,” one resident said. “This was not a normal movement.”
The urgent deployment follows the capture of Pajut by SPLA-IO forces on Friday morning. The town lies along the main arterial route north of Bor and holds significant strategic value for controlling movement across central Jonglei.
Its fall has raised alarm in Juba that opposition forces could utilize the position to push further south toward the state capital. The rebels captured approximately two dozen war captives during the takeover of Pajut.
Among those detained were police officers and senior army officers, including personnel holding the rank of brigadier general. The South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) have not officially confirmed the loss of the town or commented on the reported capture of its personnel and equipment.
Separately, military officials confirmed that Lt. Gen. Johnson Olony Thabo, the deputy chief of defence forces for mobilisation and a prominent former rebel commander, was present in neighboring Lakes State on Friday as the security situation in Jonglei deteriorated.
High-level security commanders are expected to travel to Bor in the coming days to assess the situation on the ground. The source indicated that the military leadership is launching an inquiry into the circumstances under which government forces withdrew from Pajut.
“There will be an assessment on the ground — what happened, why positions collapsed and how to prevent further advances,” the source said.
The escalation underscores fears of a return to civil war, which ended in September 2018 with the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
Control of the strategic town of Bor shifted repeatedly during the five-year conflict. The latest clashes highlight the fragility of the security arrangements and the risk of a return to full-scale hostilities between government forces and the opposition, both signatories to the peace deal.
Analysts attribute the rising tensions to the detention and ongoing trial of First Vice President Riek Machar. The opposition leader was arrested in March 2025 and has since been suspended from office pending the court’s verdict.
