Col. William Gatjiath Deng, military spokesman of the SPLA-IO, accused South Sudanese government forces in Upper Nile State of carrying out several ceasefire violations on Sunday morning but the SPLA has denied this.
He said that the government forces shelled them in areas south of Malakal, state capital of Upper Nile. “The government went and attacked us at Doleib, Wobellat, Khorfulus and Canal,” Gatjiath told Radio Tamazuj, saying Ash Shaab Al Nil was also attacked.
The spokesman added in a statement, “It becomes very clear that government is not loyal to this peace agreement which the two parties are still negotiating in Addis Ababa even in the ongoing security arrangement, they never allow the partners to reach in to compromise solution and not even respected what can ameliorate this long suffering of the people of South Sudan.”
He further claimed that on Friday the government also shelled their base at Kuek in the south of Manyo County in northern Upper Nile, calling this a sign that the government continues offensive operations. Gatjiath said such that a failure on the part of the IGAD ceasefire monitors and the international community to stop such violations could provoke a return to war.
In the meantime, a commander of the ‘Aguelek’ opposition forces led by General Johnson Olony, which are aligned with the SPLM-IO, reiterated the claims of government artillery shelling in the mentioned areas.
“Now the opposition forces are abiding by the peace agreement and abiding by the cessation of hostilities and security arrangements. We call on the ceasefire observers to take note of the movement of government forces into areas under our control,” said the officer Hassan Otor.
For his part, Philip Aguer, spokesman for the government army (SPLA), denied in a statement to Radio Tamazuj that they carried out attacks in Upper Nile. “Ghabat is under the control of SPLA, so how can SPLA attack an area that they control themselves?” he said.
Separately, Aguer downplayed the recently reported defection of a group of soldiers in northern Upper Nile led by Yohannes Okech. On the same issue, Hassan Otur denied involvement of the Aguelek forces in this development, saying the recent clashes in Wadakona were the result of an internal matter within the SPLA, not the result of an attack that they carried out on the area.
Otur reaffirmed their commitment to the recently signed peace agreement.
Meanwhile, the United States government on Friday condemned the seizure of a UN barge by opposition forces in Upper Nile last week saying that such an act could constitute a war crime.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said the barge that was traveling on the Nile River to resupply the UN base in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state. Although rebel forces recently released a group of captured UN peacekeepers they continue to hold UN contractors who were on the barge.
“We call on the SPLA/IO to immediately release all support staff who remain in detention and to return any seized equipment… We are additionally troubled by the provocative nature of this action at a time when both government and opposition forces should be respecting the ceasefire and working jointly to implement the peace agreement,” said Kirby.
The American spokesman called on both sides to adhere to the ceasefire and to allow for free access by UN and humanitarian personnel.
UPDATE: The UN has announced that yesterday they successfully carried out an extraction operation securing the release of 13 UNMISS contractors, who were taken hostage and detained by Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in Opposition soldiers on 26 October.
File photo