S. Sudanese rebels deny alleged defection of general

March 3, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudan armed opposition faction have dismissed as false reports that its director general of veterans, Stephen Gawaar Manyok defected.

In a statement, rebel spokesperson, William Gatjiath Deng said reports that Manyok and other generals defected from Kaldak were “baseless” rumors.

“Maj. General Stephen Gawaar Manyok who is also the director general of veterans, wounded and heroes a long with the said officers alleged to have defected, have not been defected and they are now in the GHQs [General Headquarters],” he said.

Those circulating rumour, the armed opposition’s spokesperson further said, are “enemies” who want to create cracks among officers in the rebel movement.

“The ruthless regime has failed completely since they brought so many times the foreign troops (allies) to topple down the movement and we are still standing firm and ready to fight back their bribed foreign allies,” said Gatjiath.

“The last option for the dead regime is to auction around unnecessary information against the movement as you might have seen many fake fabrications floating on the social media,” he added.

The South Sudanese army (SPLA) has not yet commented on the rebels’ statement.

(ST)