A garrison near the capital of Upper Nile State has been abandoned by army soldiers and police after clashes with disloyal troops.
Fighting broke out around 9 p.m. on Saturday at Doleib, which is located approximately 16 kilometeres south of Malakal. It is believed the soldiers in the barracks divided and fought amongst themselves.
The following day, today, the SPLA forces loyal to President Salva Kiir arrived in Malakal. There they were reinforced and instructed to return to their post, but as of Sunday evening they had not returned.
Meanwhile, Nuer soldiers who defected from the garrison reportedly swam across the Sobat river. These developments suggest that Doleib may now be vacant.
In related news, panic was sparked in Malakal town this morning over rumors of an enemy advance on the city.
SPLA’s sector commander for the Malakal region Johnson Gony Bilieu was ambushed yesterday evening around 5:00 p.m.
Reportedly he was traveling in a large armed convoy between Baliet and Anakdiar, perhaps with the intention of mounting an attack on Nasser.
Bilieu lost at least two bodyguards in the attack and his forces turned back toward Malakal. When they arrived back to the city this morning their arrival sparked panic among civilians in the city, who mistook the convoy for an attacking force.
More civilians within Malakal either fled the city today or sought shelter inside the UNMISS base. Much of the population had already been displaced by clashes that raged in the city over several days in late December.
Additional displacement is reported in Baliet area. An irregular force marching from Nasser along the Sobat toward Baliet may be responsible for the clash with Bilieu’s SPLA convoy last night.
Related coverage:
South Sudan army retakes Malakal; many civilian casualties (27 Dec.)
Crisis deepens in Malakal as fighting goes street to street (26 Dec.)