Troops of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army loyal to General Salva Kiir (SPLA-Juba) have pulled out of key strategic positions in Wau town, capital of Western Bahr el Ghazal following attempts to contain a violent police strike over unpaid salaries that started on Monday.
The troops had been dispatched from the 5th Division Headquarters after police protested lack of pay and reportedly took some of their own commanders hostage.
Residents of the town said troops began to withdraw early on Wednesday, ending days of tension around key administrative areas.
A state minister said Wednesday that the army had deployed at the request of the deputy governor informing them that they had lost contact with and lost control of the police forces in town.
Subsequently, several police and soldiers were killed during a firefight between police and the soldiers sent to restore order.
‘Timely and successful intervention’
Minister of Local Government Angelo Taban confirmed the withdrawal of the troops from the streets and described their mission as successfully accomplished and timely, stressing that the intervention was necessitated by the fear of potential breakdown of law and order in the town.
“The intervention of the army was timely and successful. There was no bad intention. The whole idea was to avoid a breakdown in security and order,” Taban said Wednesday.
“Now everything is under control. Traffic police are on the streets and everything is returning to normal. The committee has been formed to look into the matter and I hope the issue will be addressed soon because the ministry of interior is taking a lead on the issue,” Taban explained.
Deputy Wau Town Mayor Manut Akec said in a separate interview he saw the tanks pulling out from the areas to which they were deployed in town towards the military headquarters located north of the town in Grinti area.
Charles Abyei Jok, head of judicial team in the state said he was concerned about the approach used in the salaries dispute, particularly the use of force to contain the situation.
“The residents were very concerned about the situation in Wau. I also share with them their concern because I believe that in order to calm this situation down it is unwise to use force as a way to react to a matter which could have been handled through dialogue – after all, the police personnel were not hostile,” Jok explained.
File photo: Mourners at the funeral of people killed during civil unrest in Wau in December 2012