Security situation Report of the Secretary General on South Sudan

[sudan]

Security developments

14.

Despite their repeated pledges to end the fighting, the two parties continued

sporadic military engagements in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile Sta

tes. On

6 February, the IGAD Monitoring and Verification Mechanism released the latest

summary of violations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, totalling

26 violations since its deployment on 1 April 2014. Ten of the violations were

attributed to

SPLA and 12 to SPLM/A in Opposition, while four were attributed to

both parties.

Upper Nile State

15.

The security situation remained volatile during the reporting period, with

repeated clashes between SPLA and SPLM/A in Opposition forces, particula

rly in

Nassir and Renk counties. Fighting between armed youth aligned with the

Opposition and SPLA occurred on 20 November and 10 December, and on several

occasions between 29 December and 3 January, particularly in and around Nassir.

On 3 January, SPLA re

pulsed the armed youth to Kedbek, east of Nassir. The SPLA

took control of Kedbek on 12 January.

16.

On 20 November, SPLM/A in Opposition reportedly attacked an area

40

kilometres south of Renk town, but were repulsed by SPLA. On 10 December,

17 and 26 J

anuary, SPLM/A in Opposition briefly took control of villages in

northern Renk County, near the border with Sudan, before withdrawing. On 18 and

19

January, UNMISS heard shelling between SPLM/A in Opposition

-

held areas in

Manyo County and Renk town, which

remains under SPLA control. In Maban

County, clashes between SPLA and SPLM/A in Opposition occurred on

24

November and on 8 and 9 January. Tensions also rose in Maban County in early

January between SPLA and the Maban Defence Force (a local pro

-

SPLA armed

group) reportedly owing to the latter’s reluctance to integrate into SPLA, with the

Maban Defence Force commanders and senior officers replaced with SPLA

commanders. The Maban Defence Force also clashed with Opposition forces in

southern Maban County on 24

January. On 19 and 23 December, exchanges of

shellfire were reported in Panyikang County. The situation in Ulang and Baliet

counties remained tense.

Unity State

17.

Major tensions continued in areas north and south of the state capital, Bentiu,

with

skirmishes concentrated around the oilfields in Unity State and in Pariang

County. On 18 November, the SPLA regained control of the oilfields in Unity,

27

kilometres north of Bentiu in Rubkona County, which had been contested since

mid

-

September. In early

January 2015, however, SPLA and SPLM/A in Opposition

forces reportedly exchanged fire around the oilfields in Unity State. Fighting also

reportedly occurred south and south

-

east of Bentiu in Guit and Rubkona counties

between 6 and 12 January. On 21 and 22

January, clashes were reported in Pariang

County, with SPLA repulsing the Opposition northwards. On 30 January, UNMISS

received reports of clashes between SPLA and SPLM/A in Opposition near the

border between Mayom and Rubkona counties, west of Bentiu

S/2015/118

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/

18

15

-

01749

Jonglei State

18.

SPLA and SPLM/A in Opposition clashed in Fangak and Pigi counties in the

north

-

western part of Jonglei State between 27 November and 10 December and

again on 19 and 23 December, resulting in the reported displacement of thousands

of ci

vilians. Each party controls parts of Pigi County, with SPLA reportedly in

control of New Fangak, in Fangak County.

Western Bahr el

-

Ghazal State

19.

The situation in Raga County has been tense throughout the reporting period.

Reports indicate that in

early January, approximately 30 Nuer soldiers deserted from

SPLA at Boro Medina and Raga towns in Raga County. The group has been blamed

for four ambushes that took place between 15 and 25 January, resulting, inter alia, in

the injury of the Raga County Co

mmissioner and up to 11 people killed.

Eastern Equatoria State

20.

Tensions briefly rose in mid

-

December following the defection of SPLA

Commander Major General Martin Kenyi, an ethnic Maadi from the Nimule area,

and claims were made that Kenyi and f

orces loyal to him were responsible for an

ambush of two trucks on the Juba

-

Nimule road on 15 December. On 21 December,

Riek Machar appointed Martin Kenyi as SPLM/A in Opposition’s Deputy Chief of

Staff for Moral Orientation and the commander of SPLM/A in

Opposition’s “Eastern

Equatoria Forces”. In January, SPLA and personnel of the National Security

Services detained Maadi and Acholi youth in Pageri, Magwi County, on suspicion of

sympathizing with Kenyi and SPLM/A in Opposition.

Intercommunal conflict

21.

The onset of the dry season contributed to an escalation in intercommunal

violence, particularly in Lakes State and the Equatorias. In Lakes State,

intercommunal conflict between Dinka

-

Agar subsections continued, despite efforts

at the national and S

tate levels to stem the violence. In the most significant incident

of intercommunal fighting, in Rumbek East on 27 December, up to 48 people were

killed. Government efforts to transition law enforcement responsibility in the State

back to the national poli

ce from SPLA, which was deployed as a temporary

mitigation measure to strengthen the weak presence of the national police in the

State, have had limited success. Moreover, the State

-

sponsored civilian disarmament

campaign is yet to take place amidst a cont

inuing influx of weapons.

22.

In Eastern Equatoria State, a cattle raid in Torit County on 6 December left

28

people dead. On 19 January, conflict between the Bari and Mundari tribes in Juba

County, Central Equatoria State, over cattle grazing on Bari far

ms, resulted in

11

people killed and Bari homes destroyed. Meanwhile, in Western Equatoria State,

the influx of Dinka pastoralists from Lakes and Jonglei states displaced local

farmers from the eastern counties.

B.

Regional dimensions of the conflict

23.

Regional involvement in the conflict continued during the reporting period

with the presence of a number of non

-

South Sudanese militia groups in the border

 

[waltky]

Clashes between supporters of President Salva Kiir and vice-president Riek Machar...

South Sudan: Heavy gunfire erupts in capital Juba
Sun, 10 Jul 2016 - Heavy gunfire erupts in South Sudan's capital Juba after several days of deadly clashes between government troops and former rebels.

Residents in Juba fled as mortars and "heavy ground assault weaponry" were fired, the UN in Juba said. More than 100 people are reported to have been killed in recent clashes between supporters of President Salva Kiir and vice-president Riek Machar. A 2015 peace deal to end a 20-month civil war has failed to quell unrest. James Gatdet Dak, a spokesman for Mr Machar, blamed Friday's violence on government troops. "Our forces have been attacked at Jebel base. We hope it will not escalate," he told the AFP news agency.

The violence is the first since Friday, when a half-hour gun battle with heavy weapons and artillery killed more than 100 people. Some estimates put the death toll at about 150. A South Sudanese journalist told the BBC that reporters counted at least 100 bodies, inside and outside the presidential palace's compound. Friday's exchanges were apparently sparked by a shootout between Mr Kiir's and Mr Machar's bodyguards. The two men met at the presidential palace on Friday.

South Sudan, the world's newest country, marked its fifth anniversary of independence from neighbouring Sudan on Saturday in lockdown. The country is so short of money that no official anniversary events were planned. Tens of thousands died and millions were displaced in the civil war that split Sudan five years ago.

South Sudan: Heavy gunfire erupts in capital Juba - BBC News

 

[waltky]

How Obama Is Impeding Peace in South Sudan...

Obama Is Impeding Peace in South Sudan
Aug. 14, 2015 - By endorsing arbitrary deadlines, the president is getting in the way of a real solution to South Sudan's conflict

Even before British Major-General Charles "Chinese" Gordon and his followers were massacred in 1885, following the year long siege of Khartoum, Sudan and the nations that surround it have proven problematic to the West. At one time those problems could be safely ignored. Now, though, speed of travel has shrunk vast distances into blocks of appreciable time, the need for increased energy and mineral exploration has even the most barren wastelands considered for development and, most of all, what is commonly held to be basic human decency means the West can no longer turn a blind eye to religious and tribal oppression, especially if and when it leads to genocide.

In the 1990's the world's attention focused on Sudan once again as civil war between the country's ethnic Africans in the south and the Arab-dominated government in the north produced such suffering and depravation it could not be ignored. After much arm-twisting by the United States and other global powers, a peace-accord was reached in 2005 that included a provision that the southerners would, in time, be given the opportunity to form an independent state of their own. In January 2011 a referendum was held and, with 98.8 percent of the region voting in what is as free and fair an election as ever happens in that part of the world, a new nation, the Republic of South Sudan was born.

A man holds a South Sudanese flag during celebrations as part of the country's fourth independence day.​

Things going forward from that point have not been easy, as is often the case when new nations develop. A political power grab pushed President Salva Kiir of the ruling SPLM/A party to dissolve his cabinet and dismiss his vice president, Riek Machar, from office. To suggest this has proven disruptive to the foundations of the democratic process would be an understatement. And, as might be expected, the problems have been made worse as politics have been overlain with tribal divisions: The majority of Dinka, South Sudan's largest ethnic group, are backing Kiir; the Nuer, the second largest tribe, support Machar. Once again civil war rages, pushing more than 2 million people from their homes. For all that, the biggest stumbling block to peace, however, may be the Obama administration. American envoys are pushing both sides to sign a peace accord that neither side yet appears to be committed to fulfilling.

As Brian Garst of the non-profit Center for Freedom and Prosperity writes in a new whitepaper, "Stumbling Toward Peace in South Sudan," the United States and other global powers are attempting exert their influence in South Sudan, and they must be "mindful of the lessons learned to date and avoid ham-fisted efforts that prioritize smothering conflict over securing real stability." His paper seeks to "identify where the international community may be doing more harm than good." It is an excellent primer on the situation that provides a solid critique of the process of getting to peace that is currently being led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-country African trade bloc headquartered in Djibouti City.

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