Unity state rebels refute accusations of North Sudan backing

By Toby Collins

November 13, 2011 (LONDON) – The rebel group claiming responsibility for recent attacks in Unity state accused South Sudan’s army of ‘cheap propaganda’ on Sunday after they were described as ‘mercenaries’ for north Sudan’s military, by the southern military.

On 12 November the South Sudanese army (SPLA) said the rebel group the South Sudan Liberation Movement / Army (SSLM/A) was responsible for an attack on a military base in the north of Upper Nile state on 10 November, near the international border with north Sudan.

SPLA spokesperson, Phillip Aguer, told Sudan Tribune that five SPLA soldiers were killed, 26 wounded, 13 enemy troops were killed and 47 injured in the attack.

Aguer said that, “Khartoum is busy recruiting mercenaries consisting of southern forces who previously belonged to SAF [Sudan Armed Forces] to destabilise South Sudan for the past one month.”

The SSLM/A rebels claim that they carried out the attack with a coalition of rebel forces, in accordance with a statement published prior to the event, which urged civilians and non-governmental organisations to evacuate the area.

In response to Aguer’s claims, the SSLM/A state that if they had received SAF backing, ‘we could have captured Unity State long time ago,’ and attributes the claims to a need to ‘deflect the failures of the SPLM government in Juba to confuse the South Sudan public.’

The SSLM/A claim they were joined in the attack on 10 November by two other rebel groups; the South Sudan Democratic Movement / Defence Army and the South Sudan Defence Force.

There is evidence to corroborate the Aguer’s claims; Small Arms Survey published a report in October, stating that the model and condition of weapons confiscated from rebels in South Sudan earlier this year by the SPLA raised ‘questions about possible […] relationships with Khartoum.’

The Sudanese government has come under heavy criticism, after its planes bombed the Yida refugee camp in Unity state, as reported by the UN, BBC, Reuters and others. Khartoum’s denial that it bombed South Sudan was described as a “blatant lie,” by the US ambassador to the UN.

Refugees from Blue Nile and South Kordofan states, where the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) are engaged in conflict with the northern Sudanese rebels, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N), have been seeking refuge in Unity state.

Khartoum accuses South Sudan of backing the SPLM-N.

“Their [Khartoum’s] plan, as we know, is to occupy some oil fields,” Aguer told Reuters on 12 November.

South Sudan’s current vice-president, Riek Machar, and the leader of the main opposition party, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement–Democratic Change, Lam Akol, split from the SPLA with a Nuer dominated faction in 1991. Riek then split from Akol to form the South Sudan Independence Movement (SSIM), which became the SSLM/A.

In April the SSLM/A took up arms in renunciation of the perceived hegemony of the Dinka ethnic group; corruption; and centralised, inequitable wealth distribution. In August the SSLM/A leader, Peter Gadet signed a peace deal with Juba but was not able to bring the movement with him.

Former member of SSIM, James Gai Yoach, has been reinstated as the head of SSLM/A since the rejection of Gadet. He is joined in the leadership by Karlo Kuol Ruach, who was dismissed from the SPLA in April, Bapiny Monytuil, Philip Bipean Machar, Mathews Pul Jang and Kolchara Nyang.

(ST)