Seven senior SPLA-North officers who were removed from active service and designated 'retired' in early August have accused group's top commander Malik Agar of seeking to destroy the unity of the SPLA-North movement.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the officers described the decision taken by their leader putting them on the retirement list as “illegal”.

“We approached the leadership on the decision, but the leadership failed to reply which forced us to clarify our position on the decision,” reads the statement.

The complaining officers called for the formation of a committee to prepare for general convention and review financial and investment performance, as well as restructuring the movement’s external offices based on democratic foundations.

Former Commander of the joint forces Brigadier Yasir Ja’afar Sanhouri and head of the financial department Brigadier Hassan Ramadan Nemir are among the dissident officers.

Separately, multiple sources confirmed that the deputy chairman of the SPLA-N, who also doubles as chief of general staff of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), Abdel-Aziz Al Hilu, was absent during a meeting of SRF in Paris last week.

File photo: Malik Agar, chairman of the SPLM-N and SRF (Tomo Kriznar)