SPLA-IO chief of staff Gabriel Duop Lam arrested by security forces in Juba

JUBA – South Sudanese security forces have detained General Gabriel Duop Lam, the deputy chief of defense forces for the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) and chief of staff of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO), according to multiple SPLA-IO sources.

The sources, who spoke to Sudans Post on condition of anonymity, said General Duop Lam was arrested at his residence in Juba on Tuesday morning along with two other senor SPLA-IO officers, including the deputy chief of the National Security Services (NSS) Gen. Yei Dak.

“This is to confirm that the deputy chief of defense forces and chief of staff of the SPLA-IO General Gabriel Duop Lam has been arrested by security forces from the SSPDF and the National Security Service,” he said.

According to the source, Duop was taken to an undisclosed location by a joint force of SSPDF and National Security Service personnel. There was no immediate comment from the South Sudanese army.

“He was arrested at his residence and then taken to undisclosed location. His phones are unreachable and there are also two other generals who have been arrested with him. They were arrested the same time but at different locations,” he said, without identifying the two other officers.

Another source said that the two other officers arrested alongside Duop are the deputy Director-General of Internal Security Bureau of the National Security Service and the SPLM-IO Director General of National Security Service Gen. Yiey Daak and another senior commander known as Gen. Koang Gatkuoth.

“Those who have been arrested is the chief of staff (of SPLA-IO) and the director of National Security Service General Yiey Daak and General Koang Gatkuoth. They are now in the custody of the SSPDF and we hold the SSPDF accountable for their security,” the source said.

The reason for the arrest is not known, but it comes hours after armed youth known as treh White Army captured SSPDF base in Nasir County of South Sudan’s Upper Nile State following weeks of tensions over SSPDF’s alleged disarmament plan.

The SSPDF had used helicopter in today’s fighting with the armed use repulsing the SSPDF attempt to regain control of Nasir, the capital of Nasir County which houses a SSPDF brigade belonging to 2^nd Infantry Division in Upper Nile State.

The SSPDF has blamed the SPLA-IO for the resistance of the army youth, but First Vice President Riek Machar has submitted written directives authorizing passage for the SSPDF to deploy in Nasir County.