South Sudan’s peace forces moved to Bentiu from Muom ahead of deployment

BENTIU – The Necessary Unified Forces (NUF) who were trained at Muom in Leer County have been relocated to Bentiu, the capital of Unity State, two senior military officers from both the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and the main armed opposition SPLA-IO say.

Speaking to Sudans Post today, SSPDF Division four commander Maj. Gen. Mayang Mayak said that the parties to the revitalized peace agreement were preparing the forces for deployment and as a result they were transported to Bentiu ahead of that plan.

“This is to confirm that the 4000 troops of the Victory batch which was trained in Muom training center have been relocated to Bentiu for the time being. It is because we are working on their deployment which is going to take place in the nearest future,” he said.

General Manyang denied claims by some opposition officials that the relocation of the peace forces was done by the SSPDF without their knowledge, saying that he has been in touch with the main armed opposition Division 4A commander Gen. Turuk Khor Kuai.

“That’s not true. We are doing that as parties even the deputy force commander is from the SPLA-IO and even yesterday, I was in contact with General Turuk Khor who is the commander of the division 4A of the SPLA-IO,” he said.

For his part General Turuk confirmed the relocation of the peace forces to the SSPDF 4th infantry division headquarters in Baar, Rubkona, saying that the troops now await their deployment to their final destinations.

“Yes, I can confirm that. They were brought here four days ago, and they are in Baar. I am currently in touch with the SSPDF Division 4 commander my brother Manyang Mayak and the preparations are underway on when we will deploy them,” he said.

Gen. Turuk said the decision for deployment of the troops was a decision made from Juba by the parties and that the SPLA-IO commanders in Unity State were informed by First Vice President Riek Machar who is also the leader of the main armed opposition group.

“I was informed by the leadership of the SPLA-IO in Juba. Dr. Riek Machar spoke to us, and we are acting on his directives. We hope that this will be the smooth deployment of the forces, the whole forces who were graduated in 2022 and this will hopefully open a way for the training of the troops in phase two,” he said.

Brigadier-General Gatwech Kang Lok, the commander of the troops trained in Muom confirmed their arrival in Baar, he said they have been in the SSPDF division four headquarters for around five days and are awaiting deployment.

“I am the head of the forces, and my deputy is Brigadier-General Turuk Bol Chiek from the SPLA-IO, but we are now one body. Our slogan is “victory” and not “Oyee” or “Viva”. We have been here for five days, and we are waiting for when we will be deployed by our commanders,” he said.

The formation and deployment of the unified forces is a key requirement of the revitalized peace agreement. According to the 2018 peace deal, the parties shall training their forces in a joint force known as unified forces.

This force, according to the agreement, shall represent the professional army of South Sudan. It is also an important requirement for conduct of a free and fair elections at the end of the transitional period which ends in less than a year.

In March, peace monitoring body, Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring & Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM), raised concerns about the slow deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF).

It said at the time that only 6% of the planned 83,000 forces have been deployed with less than eight months remaining in the transitional period.