Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The commander of the main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) forces in Unity State has said that defectors backed by the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) are threatening to attack their base in Guit County.
On Monday, the SPLA-IO spokesman in Unity State Maj. Yai Pazale told Sudans Post that former SPLA-IO soldiers who had defected from the group in 2021 were dispatched under the command of Maj. Gen. Wun Tip Mathot to attack an SPLA-IO base in Guit County, a few miles east of Bentiu town.
He said that the intention for the attack is for Gen. Wun to dislodge opposition forces in the area in order to make his loyalty in the eyes of the SSPDF as solid.
“Yesterday I observed that in the morning, new defector Gen. Wun Tip Pathot moved out from SSPDF barrack yesterday morning at 8:00AM carrying full military equipment and went directly to talk with our forces at Bieh Payam in Guit County,” he said.
“Maj. Gen. Wun Tip defected from our side in 2021 and joined Robert Ruai Kuol Jal and recently when Gen. Simon Maguek defected, he defected from there and joined Maguek and both joined the SSPDF. In his speech during his declaration to the SSPDF, he said he will dislodge SPLA-IO forces in Guit, and he was trying to do what he promised to the SSPDF,” he added.
When asked to confirm the incident during an interview with the Sudans Post, SPLA-IO’s division 4A commander Gen. John Turuk Khor confirmed the alleged attempts that these defectors are trying to take their bases in Guit but said he has had instructed his forces not to response to provocations.
“Absolutely there are tensions between us the SPLA-IO and those forces who defected from us to join the SSPDF. These forces are making provocations to our forces in Guit County, but we have instructed our forces not to response to this provocation,” he said.
“We have signed a peace agreement with the SSPDF, and we are currently implementing the peace to bring peace to our country and as such this is time for peace and not a time for war. We don’t want to return to war and that’s why we don’t want our forces to respond,” he added.
The opposition commander further said that fighting almost broke out until when the Unity State governor’s security advisor went to Guit and defused the tensions but said that the forces are still making provocations.
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