The fighting that erupted in the Magenis area of Upper Nile State this morning between the two rival factions of SPLA-IO has stopped, a military official loyal to Riek Machar said.
Earlier this week, a group of military generals declared First Vice President Riek Machar had been ousted as head of the SPLM-IO and as commander in chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO).
Those top generals include former chief of staff General Simon Gatwech Dual, General Johnson Olony of Sector One Command and General Thomas Mabor Dhoal of Sector Three Command.
First Lieutenant General Simon Gatwech Dual was declared interim leader of the opposition by the new group. However, Riek Machar convened on Thursday an emergency meeting and dismissed claims that he had been ousted and replaced by General Simon Gatwech.
“The fighting broke out this morning (Saturday) at 6:30 AM and stopped at around 9 AM. I can confirm that the clashes have stopped and our forces returned to their areas, but our forces are still on high alert,” Col. Lam Paul Gabriel, a spokesman for SPLA-IO forces loyal to Riek Machar, told Radio Tamazuj this afternoon.
Col. Lam accused forces loyal to First Lieutenant General Simon Gatwech Dual of carrying out attacks on their positions in the Gezan area. “The forces loyal to Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual and those loyal to Gen. Johnson Olony launched attacks on our forces, but they were repulsed,” Paul Lam said. “The fighting was heavy and three fighters from our side were killed in action and 13 others sustained injuries.”
According to Lam Paul, Machar’s camp has received information that Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual and Lt. Gen. Johnson Olony were evacuated to neighbouring Sudan, one of the guarantors of the fragile revitalized peace agreement.
Listen to the interview with Lam Paul (Interview in Arabic).