SPLM/A-IO threatens bloodshed for peace
March 25, 2022 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s armed opposition faction (SPLM/A-IO) says bloodshed must occur for peace to prevail in the country.
In a statement issued on Thursday, SPLM/A-IO’s spokesperson Colonel Lam Paul Gabriel said their group will not be silenced because they are in Juba.
“We may shade (shed) our blood, but it will be for the right reason [to bring peace for our civilians]. However, we will never be silenced because we are in Juba. This aggression against our people must stop,” he stated.
Relations between the two main partners in the 2018 revitalized peace deal have never been rosy, causing the SPLM/A-IO to pull out of the six security mechanisms and participate in coordination meetings chaired by the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC).
R-JMEC is a body tasked to monitor and verify violations in the peace deal.
The two rival parties traded accusations on Thursday over multiple attacks in several locations in the counties of South Sudan’s Upper Nile state.
South Sudan army spokesperson, Lul Ruai Koang accused SPLM/A-IO forces of carrying out attacks in Maiwut and Longechuk counties
The opposition leaders and its military wing denied the allegation, pointing to attacks on several positions belonging to them in both Upper Nile and the Unity States. The deteriorating security situation and relations between the two parties with fighting forces are causing fears that the agreement could collapse if no immediate intervention is made.
Lam, however, said the armed opposition are not willing to return to a civil war, but had the right to self-defense should their forces be attacked.
He said his group would not be silenced because they are in Juba, warning government forces to desist from attacking its positions in Upper Nile state.
The SPLM/A-IO also suspended its participation in the ceasefire monitoring body (CTSAMVM), citing the continued attacks from governments forces.
The United States, United Kingdom, and Norway have expressed their condemnation of the attacks on SPLA-IO bases saying the skirmishes in Upper Nile and Unity states threaten the revitalized peace agreement.
(ST)