Africa

August 3, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudanese national army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), loyal to President Salva Kiir has for the first time in three weeks publicly admitted that it has “resolved to crush SPLA-IO” forces loyal to former First Vice President, Riek Machar, despite their earlier denials that there was no heavy fighting going on around Juba.

“SPLA reiterates it's resolve to crush SPLA IO warmongers under the leadership of power hungry former FVP Riek Machar. Machar's bandits will have no where to hide,” declared Brigadier Lul Ruai Koang, the official military spokesperson of the South Sudan's national army.

The opposition group under Machar had been saying that tens of thousands of troops loyal to President Kiir have been on offensive in the bushes around the capital trying to hunt down Machar from his places of “hiding.”

Although President Kiir's officials have been downplaying the claims by the opposition, the revelation from the military spokesperson that Machar's forces will be “crushed” and will have “nowhere to hide” indicates that heavy fighting had been going on in the deep forests around the capital.

The military official spokesperson in the statement he posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday evening and widely circulated on social media, also congratulated the newly appointed First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, on his commitment to peace.

“SPLA congratulates SPLA IO Peace Partners u[n]der the leadership of First Vice Gen.Taban Deng Gai for new spirit they have shown and commitment to full implementation of peace agreement,” Koang added.

However, opposition official loyal to Machar dismissed the threats to crush their forces around Juba, saying instead they were ready to take control of Juba, describing Koang's claims as “wishful thinking” to try to raise the moral of their defeated troops plus their police forces.

They also described Gai's relationship with President Kiir as not about implementing the peace agreement, but “rather about mutually violating and destroying it.”

Gai, Machar's spokesperson said, upon swearing in as new “illegal” first deputy started by scrapping the provision that recognizes existence of two rival armies in the country during the transitional period and also compromised that President Kiir's faction takes the speakership of the transitional parliament without “democratically” contesting it between the parties.

He said the two men were only determined to return the country pre-August 2015 peace agreement and avoid implementing the needed reforms to change the nation.

(ST)

August 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM/JUBA) -The Sudanese government has denied, on Wednesday, refusing to receive the newly appointed South Sudan's First Vice-President Taban Deng Gai stressing that the replacement of former FVP Riek Machar remains an internal affair even if it violates the peace agreement.

President Salva Kiir meets SPLM-IO Chief Negotiator, Taban Deng Gai, in Juba, December 22, 2015 (ST Photo)

The Khartoum based Akhir-Lahza newspaper, Wednesday published statements attributed to the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Obeid-Allah Mohamed Obeid-Allah saying that "Sudan is unwilling to receive" Gai because his appointment comes in violation of the peace agreement.

In a quick reaction to the statements, South Sudan's Presidential Advisor on security affairs, Tut Kew Gatluak Wednesday, told Sudan Tribune without naming Khartoum that he and several officials in the government were "stunned" to learn of remarks attributed to senior government officials in a neighbouring country rejecting to work with the government.

“It is unfortunate and regretful if such remarks were uttered by senior government officials,” said Gatluak, adding he was shocked by the remarks the government will now verify the authenticity and the circumstances in which they were uttered.

Reached by Sudan Tribune the Sudanese state minister denied that government refuses to deal with the new South Sudanese first vice-president, stressing that he had only said that Gai's appointment is inconsistent with the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS).

"The news reports claiming that Sudan decided to stop dealing with the Government of South Sudan and to refuse to grant a visa to the new first vice president, are unfounded," Obeid-Allah said.

"We are dealing with the South Sudanese government, and consider Taban's appointment as first vice president as an internal matter for the government of South Sudan," he further said.

"Also, we have no knowledge of a visa request he made to visit Sudan," he underlined.

The Sudanese official, however, reiterated that Gai's appointment as First Vice-President is a violation of the ARCSS "but it remains an internal affair for Juba government."

Last Sunday Sudan hosted a meeting for the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) Partners Group.

JMEC partners called to put the implementation of the peace agreement back on track, and to stop the hunt of Machar and his forces in the conflict areas particularly, Western and Central Equatoria and to join the negotiating table.

Khartoum disclosed Monday it had refused a demand to undertake efforts outside the IGAD framework to reconcile the conflicting parties in South Sudan.

Sudan took part in a three-member panel including Ethiopian and Kenya tasked with the mediation of the peace agreement.

(ST)

August 3, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan's ruling party's (SPLM) former secretary-general, Pagan Amum has formed an advocacy group seeking to bring the world's youngest nation under the administration of the United Nations.

Pagan Amum (Getty)

In an interview with VOA, Amum said he wants the international community to directly intervene in South Sudan to prevent the country from collapse.

He described "South Sudan Reborn", as a platform for advocacy and education; campaign to keep the young nation united and not divided on tribe.

The initiative, he further stressed, would have to involve regional players like the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African continent, the Troika countries and members of the international community to save South Sudan.

The group's aim "is to bring the violence to an end through calling on the United Nations to take over South Sudan.”

According to Amum, South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar have “failed” the country.

“President Salva Kiir took the country to a civil war, which he made very brutal and tribalistic, and now the genie is out of the bottle and it is out of control,” he told VOA, adding “President Kiir has miserably failed to take the country back to peace.”

Amum urged appealed to leaders, including Kiir and Machar, to pave way for technocrats.

He said the South Sudan can only succeed if those tasked with managing it put in place strong institutions that promote good governance, democracy and human rights.

Amum, one of the country's former political detainees, recently expressed the African Union proposal to send foreign troops in South Sudan to support the United Nations peacekeepers, a move rejected by the Kiir administration.

(ST)

August 3, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan government says its former political detainees should state their positions on the proposed deployment of foreign troops in the country.

Former South Sudanese political detainees hold a press conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on 13 February 2014 (Photo: IGAD)

“We have three [former detainees] who are with us here and whose position is not known clearly. You know who they are,” information minister, Michael Makuei Leuth told reporters in the capital, Juba.

According to the minister, some of the ex-detainees, including the ruling party's former secretary general, Pagan Amum and former deputy defense minister, Majak D'Agot, who currently live outside the country, have publicly expressed support for military intervention.

“This monitory must clarify their position. We are not here for the game of seek and hide,” he said, referring to ex-detainees in Juba.

Mainly comprising of former ministers, the ex-political detainees were, during the mid-December 2013 outbreak of conflict, jailed for allegedly plotting to topple President Salva Kiir's government.

The detainees were, however, released after spending four months in jail when government opted to withdraw charges against them.

When the transitional government was formed in April, three of the former political detainees joined cabinet. These were Deng Alor (foreign affairs), John Luk Jok (roads and transport) and Cirino Hiteng as deputy foreign affairs minister, before he was sacked.

The information minister said the former political detainees needed to have a unified position, warning that there was no “middle way.”

“You are either a bad or good boy, but it cannot be both,” he said.

South Sudanese has rejected suggestions by the regional bloc (IGAD) and African Union to send extra troops to support United Nations Mission in South Sudan with a new mandate to use force should any form of violence erupt in the young nation.

The information minister said some countries, he did not name, were championing regime change to install the ex-detainees into power.

“So they want to make sure those good boys are brought to power – not through election, but through creating problems,” he further observed.

(ST)

August 3, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - Commissioner of security arrangements at Darfur Regional Authority Babiker Korena said the accommodation of 200 fighters from the Democratic Justice and Equality Movement (DJEM) led by Mohamed Ibrahim Azrag has begun in North Darfur capital El-Fasher on Wednesday.

Fighters from Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement (AFP)

Korena pointed that DJEM has joined the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) along with two other factions from the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Nur al-Dain Zorgi and Salih Adam Ishag.

The commissioner, who addressed the 200 fighters at the military training camp in the Jadid Al-Sail area, north of El-Fasher, said they are ready to accommodate the rest of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) fighters besides those belonging to rebel group led by Abdalla Gana.

He pointed that his commission is tasked with accommodating fighters belonging to the DDPD signatory groups.

For his part, DJEM leader told Sudan Tribune that 200 fighters from his movement have engaged in the security arrangement procedures, pointing that the majority of fighters were unable to reach the camp for what he described as technical reasons.

“The agreement [DDPD] didn't meet our desired [goals] but we opted for peace for the sake of the homeland and the people” he said.

“Our fighters would support the Sudanese Armed Forces and peace is the only option. We call on our brothers [in arms] to join the peaceful process” he added .

The DDPD was signed on 11 July 2011 between the Sudanese government and the LJM of Tijani al-Sissi. The Justice and Equality Movement splinter faction led by Bakheit Abdel- Karim Dabajo (JEM-Dabajo) joined the deal on 6 April 2013.

(ST)

August 3, 2016 (JUBA) – Loyalists of the former South Sudan's First Vice President, Riek Machar, have turned down appointments recommended to President Salva Kiir by the newly appointed First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, saying the process was illegal.

On Wednesday, President Kiir issued a republican decree reconstituting the 50 additional membership of the opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) to the transitional parliament in Juba.

However, several members have refused to accept their appointments, saying they don't recognize Gai as the First Vice President. Others also claimed that they were not consulted prior to their appointment or reappointment as they were surprised by seeing their names in the list of the members of parliament.

Nuba Batim, a member of parliament previously nominated by Machar, said she has refused to accept the new reappointment per nomination by Gai, saying she only recognized Machar as the legitimate leader in the opposition faction and in the government.

“Getting positions now is not important to me because that is not what am here for,” wrote Nuba Batim, former MP, on her Facebook page.

“Therefore I have rejected this appointment by Taban Deng Gai to serve in the TGONU because I am loyal to Dr. Riek Machar Teny and the Peace he is struggling to restore in the whole of South Sudan,” she added.

Another MP, Thokkhat Khor Wiu, also said he has turned down the offer by Gai to continue to serve in the parliament under his leadership. He said he did not regret his decision to reject the membership in the parliament.

“I and my other comrades are so proud of our decision to reject our reappointment to our own positions to the national Parliament by IO- Crown Hotel,” he wrote, while referring to a hotel inside which Gai was allegedly nominated in a controversial process on 23 July in Juba.

“If the agreement is disowned by our peace partners, we decided to stand firm with Chairman of SPLM/A-IO Dr. Riek Machar Teny and help him getting back on track again,” he said.

Jordon Long also revealed that he was approached to accept being appointed as MP in Juba, but he refused.

“I was desperately contacted and offered MP position, but angrily turned it down,” he said.

Many others have also rejected the appointments. However, others have accepted their nomination and appointment or reappointment as members of parliament.

(ST)

August 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on Wednesday has confiscated copies of Al-Saiha daily newspaper for the second time within a week from the printing house without giving any reasons.

Journalists demonstrate outside the press and publication council against the closure of two Islamist newspapers Alwan and al-Rai al-Shaab in Khartoum February 7, 2012 (Reuters)

Chief-Editor of Al-Saiha newspaper Al-Nour Ahmed Al-Nour told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday that his newspaper didn't make any violation that could justify the NISS move, saying they don't know the reason behind the repeated confiscations.

He pointed that the newspaper hasn't recently published any reports that cross what the NISS consider as red line, saying the NISS agents came to the printing house and seized 13,000 print runs without stating reasons.

Al-Nour added that their financial loss is estimated at 30,000 pounds (SDG) (about $5000).

“This is the second time they seize the newspaper within one week and don't know what are the reasons … our newspaper has incurred huge financial loss” he said.

“I'm not sure if they are trying to put pressures on the newspaper but we follow an objective editorial policy and carry out our work professionally without violating the law or crossing the red lines,” he added.

Last week, Al-Taghyeer newspaper decided to suspend publishing and started to lay off its staff following the large financial loss it incurred due to repeated confiscations.
Journalists working for Al-Saiha have expressed fear that their newspaper would follow suit.

Al-Saiha is owned by the chairman of the Just Peace Forum (JPF) party and president Omer Hassan al-Bashir's maternal uncle Al-Tayeb Mustafa.

The NISS routinely confiscates newspapers either to prevent circulation of certain stories or to punish them retroactively on previous issues.

It uses seizures of print copies of newspapers, not only to censor the media but also to weaken them economically.

(ST)

August 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese petroleum minister Mohamed Zayed Awad said that Chinese companies control 75 percent of foreign investment in Sudan's oil sector.

Workers for the China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp (CPECC) construct new oil facilities in Sudan. (Photograph: Trevor Snapp/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Awad told reporters Wednesday upon his return from China that several Chinese companies would launch new oil and gas investments in Sudan.

He pointed that a delegation from the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will arrive in Khartoum on August 25th to explore new investment opportunities.

The Sudanese minister added that CNPC seeks to explore for oil and gas in a number of blocks including block 25 in the White Nile state, block 8 in Sennar state, block 2 and 6 in West Kordofan state.

For his part, presidential aide for China affairs Awad Ahmed al-Jazz, who accompanied the minister during his visit to China, said the government has laid out 170 projects in various fields for the Chinese investors.

He added they also discussed the possibility for establishing a free zone, industrial area and a port besides launching health, agriculture, oil and mineral projects.

“We went to China in a delegation including the finance minister, governor of the central bank, petroleum minister, state minister of foreign affairs besides a number of senior officials and we held consultations with the Chinese side and it turned out that we held identical views,” he said.

Earlier this year, CNPC unveiled a plan to cut its investments and production in a number of countries except Sudan due to falling oil prices.

The Chinese oil giant began its business in Sudan in 1995.

Sudan lost 75% of its oil reserves after the southern part of the country became an independent nation in July 2011, denying the north billions of dollars in revenues. Oil revenue constituted more than half of the Sudan's revenue and 90% of its exports.

Sudan currently produces 133,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd). The country's production is stationed mainly in the Heglig area and its surroundings, as well as western Kordofan.
Following South Sudan's secession, several foreign companies started exploration in new oil fields.

During a visit to New Delhi last January, Awad offered three gas and oil blocks to India's ONGC Vides.

(ST)

August 3, 2016 (JUBA) - The ministry of foreign affairs in South Sudan has on Wednesday denied reports that immigration and security personnel have been blocking entry into the country of United Nations personnel on arrival at Juba international, describing the accusation as "false."

Joseph Ayok Anei, undersecretary at the ministry said the country was not blocking entry, but was simply evaluating security situation.

“This is not true. They are false reports. The government is not denying entry of any foreign nationals to the country. Foreign nationals are coming and leaving normally. What happened and this is what we did as the government of a sovereign state, which operates within the rules, regulations and laws of the country, is that we evaluated the security situation in the country in the light of recent events and we gave out instructions to officials at immigration department and other entry points in the interest of peace and stability,” explained Ayok.

He said the directive was part of safety measures to ensure personal security and protection of foreigners coming into the country by giving the government any opportunity to know where they would be staying once in the country.

He continued: “The objective of these new directives have been falsely interpreted. The objective was for the good of the foreign nationals coming into the country, especially those who don't know much the country. We felt it was wise to give three days for those coming into the country so as to enable them get sufficient information and time relating to the arrangements of where they would stay once in the country.”

“It would also be an opportunity for the government to know where they would be staying for security purpose, because their security is a responsibility of the government,” he added.

The official said because of the necessity, they gave the directives to anybody wishing to come to South Sudan to “know and to observe and comply.”

He explained that the directives were not targeting personnel of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and other UN agencies.

“This is the outcome of a series of discussions and meetings we have had with senior management of the UN's country team,” he said.

But while Ayok denies blocking of the UN personnel, several sources with United Nations and agencies said in a series of interviews that some of their colleagues returning from leave and official travels through Nairobi, Kenya, and Entebbe, Uganda, have had to negotiate their return, some of whom out of desperation, have had to pay immigration and security personnel.

Those who failed to pay were either deported or denied visas, leaving them with no other options than accepting to return from where they came on the next available flight.

(ST)

August 3, 2016 (JUBA) – The recent replacement of some South Sudan's national ministers and members of the transitional national legislative assembly is “illegal”, says the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) under the leadership of former First Vice President, Riek Machar.

They said the action was furthering the violation of the August 2015 peace agreement signed between President Kiir and Machar, the leader of the SPLM-IO.

“President Salva Kiir has no power in the peace agreement to singlehandedly replace and appoint SPLM-IO's national ministers. He also has no power to replace and appoint members of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly who are members of the SPLM-IO. He would only act upon a recommendation given to him by the legitimate leader of the SPLM-IO, Dr. Riek Machar, who is also the First Vice President,” said James Gatdet Dak, Machar's spokesperson.

“The action is illegal. This is the continuation of the same illegal process which self-appointed Honourable Taban Deng Gai as First Vice President. This short-lived illegal process will however be corrected soon,” he further told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

Dak was reacting to the Wednesday's announcement of new list of names of national ministers belonging to the SPLM-IO in which President Kiir dismissed four national ministers and replaced them with new faces.

President Kiir in another decree reconstituted the 50 membership of the SPLM-IO's additional members to the parliament by replacing some, appointing new faces and reappointing some members previously nominated by Machar to the legislative body in Juba.

The opposition leader's spokesperson added that Machar is still the legitimate First Vice President, as his “temporary” absence from Juba imposed by attack on his residence did not warrant appointment of a replacement per the Article 6.5 of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS).

However, Dak said the peace deal was collapsing as President Kiir's forces have continued attacking Machar's forces to try to hunt him down around Juba.

He said the opposition faction may soon be forced to march on Juba to stop the “lawlessness” and dismantle the source of the “orders to attack” to restore peace and stability in the heart of the city and beyond.

(ST)

Related article:

South Sudan's Kiir sacks four armed opposition ministers

August 2, 2016 (JUBA) - 60,000 people have fled South Sudan's recent violence in the capital city of Juba, bringing to nearly 900,000 the overall number of South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring nations since December 2013, the United Nations refugee agency said.

A woman carries water through a UN camp for internally displaced people in South Sudan's Upper Nile state (Photo: IOM)

Refugee flows from South Sudan into Uganda have doubled in the past 10 days, bringing the total to over 52,000 since violence escalated early last month.

Kenya has reported the arrival of 1,000 refugees in the same period, while 7,000 have fled to Sudan, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees stated.

“The refugees bring disturbing reports that armed groups operating on roads to Uganda are preventing people from fleeing South Sudan,” Melissa Fleming, UNHCR chief spokesperson said.

The recent fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and the armed opposition allied former rebel leader, Riek Machar left over 270 soldiers dead in Juba.

New arrivals from Yei say they received letters warning them to evacuate the town in anticipation of conflict between rebel and government forces, the spokesperson said.

According to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), refugees have also reported that armed groups operating across different parts of South Sudan are looting villages, murdering civilians and forcibly recruiting young men and boys in to their ranks.

Tension remains high in Eastern Equatoria, parts of Juba and the Upper Nile territories.

Fleming reminded all parties to the conflict in South Sudan of a fundamental human right to seek asylum and urging them to ensure that civilians are provided with unhindered access to safety as the number of refugees crosses a worrying milestone.

With over 2.6 million of its citizens forcibly displaced, South Sudan reportedly ranks among the countries with the highest levels of conflict-induced population displacement globally as an estimated half of the population rely on humanitarian aid.

(ST)

Preliminary United Nations investigations into the recent fighting in South Sudan reveal Government security forces carried out killings and rapes, and looted and destroyed properties, the UN human rights chief said today, calling on the Security Council to take stronger action.

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August 3, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan President Salva Kiir has sacked four armed opposition ministers suspected still loyal to the former vice president, Riek Machar and replace them with new faces loyal to the new first vice president, Taban Deng Gai.

South Sudanese president Salva Kiir (Photo: Reuters)

President Kiir, according to the order, broadcast by the state owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) removed Mary Alfonse Nadio Lodira, Mabior Garang, Dak Duop Bishok and Peter Adwok Nyaba. These officials were replaced with officials who included Ezekiel Lol, a former ambassador to the United States, who was one of the officials detained in 2013 when conflict erupted in the South Sudan capital, Juba.

Lol, initially seen as close to Machar, turned a foe after failing to secure a ministerial position and became an ally of Gai who failed to be appointed the petroleum minister.

The new officials, according to the presidential decree, were appointed on the basis of recommendations from the armed opposition leadership allied to the first vice president.

Michael Tiangjiek Mut is the new Minister of Interior, Ezekiel Lul (Minister of Petroleum Minister), Gabriel Duop Lam (Minister of Labour), Gabriel Thok Deng (Minister of Mining), Yien Tut (Minister of Higher Education) and Sofia Gai (Minister of Water Resources).

Alfred Lado Gore is one of the old faces who has been removed from the Ministry of Interior and appointed the new minister of Land and Housing. His other Colleagues, Richard K. Mulla and Dhieu Mathok Diing Wol, the secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation in Opposition (SPLM-IO) returned their positions as the minister of federal affairs and minister of imagery and dams respectively.

The Humanitarian Affairs Ministers, Hussein Nyot Maar has retained his position. Rieu Gatliek Gai has been appointed the new deputy Interior Minister and Natake Allan as Deputy Minister of Labour. A separate order was issued appointing Gabriel Yol Dok as advisor on Social Service Delivery, Michael Mario Dhuor as advisor for Reforms Evaluation and Ramadhan Laku for Good Governance.

Kiir relieved 50 MPs appointed by Machar, replacing them with the ones Gai nominated.

Parliament is expected to hold it first sitting on Thursday to formally select the new speaker for the transitional national legislative assembly, sources told Sudan Tribune.

(ST)

August 2, 2016 (JUBA) - The command of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a co-national army with ‘SPLA in Opposition' in South Sudan, has issued a statement downplaying reports that it has been engaged in an active combat with its rival army, the SPLA-IO under the leadership of former First Vice President, Riek Machar.

Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang, who speaks for the government forces denied on Tuesday that there was major offensive over the weekend, but admitted there was "small fighting" between rival forces. This is contrary to the reports from the opposition faction and the United Nations.

“There was no heavy fighting around Juba. This is a physiological warfare being waged by anti-peace elements and to scare civilians. The reality is that our forces met reconnaissance and engaged them. They tried to put up some resistance, but at the end they were overcome and they fled to different locations," said Koang in a statement also broadcast by the state owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC).

Koang also accused the armed opposition forces of shelling the government military positions in Nasir town in Upper Nile, a claim the opposition denied and instead accused the government forces of initiating the attack on their position on the other side of the Sobat River.

The military spokesperson said the situation in Nasir was now calm on Tuesday and that the government was still in full control of Nasir town. He denied a loss of “even one centimeter to the anti-peace elements."

Government's Latjor state information minister, Peter Hoth Tuach, told Sudan Tribune in a separate interview on Monday that the position of the government forces in Nasir came under sustained shelling for two days from across the Sobat River, adding the SPLA forces in the area responded in self-defense.

He added that the limited attack which the rebels tried across the river was repulsed describing it as "mere skirmishes."

“War is not the interest of anybody and we call [on] all our people to disregard the rumours from the internet. The government is committed to implementing peace and the SPLA-IO forces should also demonstrate the same commitment by giving out clear instructions to their field commanders to observe the ceasefire. On our side, the ceasefire which the president declared on July 11, 2016, is being observed by our gallant SPLA forces wherever they are deployed in the state,” explained minister Tuach.

Machar's spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, on Tuesday said heavy fighting has been going on in the bushes on Juba-Yei road, Juba-Mundri road and in the northwest of the capital in Katigiri area, as the opposition forces were fighting back in self-defence against over 10,000 President Kiir's forces who were on offensive trying to hunt for Machar.

He said “several hundreds” of President Kiir's forces have been already killed in the forests, but the government did not want to tell the truth about what was really happening in the bushes in order not to demoralize its soldiers and to deceive the citizens in Juba.

He warned that should the offensive continue, the opposition forces will be forced to move on Juba, a claim which President Kiir's faction dismissed as unachievable.

The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the highest body which monitors the peace agreement signed in August last year, has issued a statement calling on President Kiir to stop deploying forces to hunt for Machar in the bushes around Juba. United Nations has also called on the two warring parties to stop the ongoing fighting “around Juba.”

Hundreds of wounded soldiers have been seen in hospitals in the capital brought from the frontlines, an indication that there is fighting going on somewhere.

Also, hundreds of soldiers belonging to the government, mainly from the Dinka ethnic group, have fled to the United Nations protection of civilian's site at Jebel's PoC2 in Juba, including a number of senior army officers who retreated from the frontlines.

A senior military official loyal to President Kiir told Sudan Tribune on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal that heavy fighting had been taking place over the weekend around Juba. He also revealed that the government incurred heavy losses, adding that recently “police forces including wildlife and national security forces have been deployed to the frontlines to back up the troops.”

South Sudan's government has rejected any deployment of additional third party force despite the opposition's acceptance in order to separate the two forces and guarantee protection of the rival leaderships, their officials and the citizens always caught in crossfire or targeted.

(ST)