S. Sudan armed opposition fighters defect to rival faction
October 21, 2017 (JUBA) – A group of South Sudan Democratic Front (SSDF) fighters under the overall command of Lt. General Gordon Kong Chuol that fought alongside the armed opposition faction headed by former first vice-president Riek Machar have defected and joined the Gabriel Changson Chang-led Federal Democratic Party-South Sudan Armed Forces (FDP-SSAF).
“When Dr. Riek Machar knew that we fight for change, he deceived us to bring our armies to Kuek and fight to SPLM/A-IG side by side for the right of the people of South Sudan, he told us that take your soldiers to Kuek and stay over there with his forces,” partly reads the group’s statement.
It further added, “When we came to Kuek, he said go to Magany and the time we reached Magany, the Magany area commander for SPLM/A-IO forces Chigach Gatluak has started his disarmament to our solders and put some of them in jail, he did not want our forces to stay in Magany and organize ourselves because we have different objectives meanwhile SSDF has been fighting for change and the SPLM/A-IO is fighting for positions”.
Machar, who is currently exiled in South Africa, leads a rebellion that has seen tens of thousands of people killed, and over 2 million displaced since 2013.
In August 2015, a peace agreement signed between South Sudan’s main warring factions halted the conflict and paved way for the formation of a coalition government, which appears shaky with renewed war in the country.
The defectors claimed Machar signed the 2015 peace agreement without consultation with all opposition groups that have fought for the same cause, and SPLM/A-IO leadership has not addressed root causes of the problem.
“The SPLM/A-IO government is being run without constitution and its leadership has been using the same system with SPLM/A-IG in Juba,” they said.
In the statement, the defector claimed Machar, his wife Angelina Teny and South Sudan first vice-president, Taban Deng Gai run the armed opposition movement, allegations which Sudan Tribune could not independently verify.
In August last year, at least 1100 soldiers who defected from South Sudan People Patriotic Front (SSPF), a rebel groups based in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria state, allegedly joined Chang’s South Sudan Army Forces/ Federal Democratic Party.
(ST)