CORRECTED: Forces leaving cantonment sites: CTSAMVM

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The body monitoring South Sudan’s ceasefire (CTSAMVM) has expressed concerns that some of the forces are leaving the designated cantonment sites.

The body monitoring South Sudan’s ceasefire (CTSAMVM) has expressed concerns that some of the forces are leaving the designated cantonment sites.

This was revealed during the 19th meeting for the technical committee members of the CTSAMVM held in Juba on Tuesday.

Major Martin Abicha, a member of the opposition SPLA-IO on the ceasefire committee expressed concerns that the soldiers deserting the cantonment sites are likely to cause insecurity in the communities. 

“These forces in cantonment sites may cause insecurity to areas they are going to. My second point is on weapons collection, all heavy and should have been collected or else we should prepare for something terrible,” he warned.

Parties to South Sudan's new peace agreement agreed to form a unified force of 83,000 personnel.

However, creating a unified army and determining the number of states and their boundaries remains a challenge in the peace deal.

The CTSAMVM, a body established after the signing of South Sudan’s peace agreement in August 2015, is responsible for monitoring and verifying implementation of a permanent ceasefire.

NOTICE OF CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that some of the forces are leaving the designated cantonment sites with their weapons. This is inaccurate. The forces are leaving the cantonment sites without their weapons.