South Sudan army general appears publicly after death claims

JUBA — A South Sudan army general who was widely rumored to have been killed during fighting in Jonglei State appeared publicly in the state capital Bor on Sunday, with a senior officer dismissing reports of his death following the capture of a key town by opposition forces.

Major General Gabriel Bol Anuer, a commander in the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces, had been reported killed on Friday when fighters from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) overran Pajut, a strategic settlement along the main route linking northern Jonglei to the state capital Bor.

Speaking to address the rumors on Sunday at the headquarters of the SSPDF’s 8^th Infantry Division at Malual Chaat in Bor, Lt. Col. Khot Mayen, a senior military officer, rejected the reports, standing alongside Bol Anuer as he addressed the claims.

“I have met with [Gabriel] Bol Anuer. This is Bol. Bol is not dead. This person is still alive. I met him in Malual Chaat. He is now with me. This is Bol Anuer. (in Jieng) He is not dead. This person is not dead. This is him with me,” Khot Mayen said.

The appearance confirmed earlier reporting by Sudans Post that Bol Anuer had not been killed but had evacuated Pajut roughly 30 minutes before the town fell to opposition forces.

We geolocated the footage of Bol Anuer’s appearance to the meeting hall of the SSPDF 8^th Infantry Division headquarters in Malual Chaat, Bor, Jonglei State, at coordinates 6°09′32.16″N, 31°34′40.12″E.

The rumours surrounding Bol Anuer’s fate emerged amid rapidly deteriorating security conditions in Jonglei, where the fall of Pajut heightened fears of further advances toward Bor and prompted the government to deploy reinforcements to the area.

South Sudan has seen renewed fighting in recent weeks in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states, raising concern among regional and international actors about the risk of a wider escalation.

The country remains fragile for more than seven years after a 2018 peace deal formally ended a civil war that split the nation along political and ethnic lines.

The government army has not issued a detailed account of the fighting in Pajut or the circumstances of the withdrawal, but independent verification of battlefield claims links control of the  area to the SPLA-IO.