SPLA-IO command tells forces to ‘maintain vigilance’, exercise self-defense

JUBA – South Sudan’s main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny has told its forces to maintain vigilance and only response in self-defence.

This comes a day after the main armed opposition group which is a main signatory of the revitalized peace agreement said it withdrawn from various security mechanisms and monitoring bodies.

The group accused the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit, a peace partner, of violating the revitalized peace agreement and said that peace monitors such as R-JMEC and CTSAMVM haven’t responded despite the outcry from the group.

In a statement, SPLA-IO spokesman Col. Lam Paul Gabriel said the SPLA-IO command briefed the SPLM-IO members of the peace implementation mechanisms about the decision it took yesterday to withdraw its participation.

“The SPLA-IO leadership this morning the 23/03/2022, briefed its members of mechanisms in Juba on the decision taken on 22/03/2022 regarding the SUSPENSION OF MEETINGS OF MECHANISMS AND RJMEC MEETINGS,” Gabriel said in the statement.

“The leadership asks its members of the different security mechanisms and the forces in the United Training Centers to remain calm while it seeks the best possible solution to end this situation,” it added.

It said the group’s forces “in the cantonment sites and assembly areas are directed to maintain vigilance and only act in self-defence when aggressed.”

It further said that it “remains committed to the full implementation of the Transitional Security Arrangement but reserves the right to self-defence.”