S. Sudan president directs governor to end rebellion

July 17, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudan president Salva Kiir has directed the Central Upper Nile state governor to work with government troops and its allied rebel faction in the area to end rebellion.

“Your briefing is good but you need to do more so that there is total peace in the area. You need to work together with the forces of Taban Deng Gai and other forces that are for peace,” said Kiir.

“For those who have refused the national dialogue and are pursuing the war, you need to work also together with forces of Taban Deng Gai and the SPLA [Sudan Peoples Liberation Army] forces to ensure that they are not in the area causing havoc”, he added.

The governor, however, said the general security situation in his state was “calm and normal”, stressing that his administration was working hard to achieve peace in the state through community dialogue.

Monybuny said communities in the state, including those in the protection of civilian sites (PoCs) in the United Nations camps were working together with those in the Upper Nile state capital, Malakal to achieve and maintain peace and stability in the war-torn region.

The governor, however, expressed the commitment of his administration to ensure peace prevails in Central Upper Nile state.

The South Sudanese civil war is a conflict between forces loyal to the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and ten others of attempting a coup d’état.

Since then, tens of thousands of people have been killed and over two million displaced in South Sudan’s worst-ever violence since it seceded from Khartoum.

(ST)