Allafrica.com: 1. South Sudan: Rebels Aided By Foreign Mercenaries in Bentiu - SPLA 2. South Sudan: Officials Blame Bureaucratic Bungling for Fall of Bentiu Town
South Sudan: Rebels Aided By Foreign Mercenaries in Bentiu - SPLA
17 April 2014
Juba - The South Sudanese army (SPLA) says it is preparing to launch a major
offensive to retake Bentiu, the capital of the oil producing Unity state,
calling on foreign mercenaries supporting rebel forces in the area to
immediately withdraw.
The comments came following official confirmation that rebel fighters allied
to former vice-president turned rebel leader Riek Machar had seized control
of the strategic town close to the Sudanese border.
"This is a temporary victory and should not be celebrated that much by
rebels. We will take it," SPLA spokesperson Colonel Philip Aguer told
reporters on Wednesday, adding that government forces remained in the area.
Aguer claims that rebels entered the town on Monday with the help of foreign
mercenaries, believed to be Janjaweed, the feared Arab militias active in
Darfur and western Sudan.
"They (rebels) entered the town with help of some foreign mercenaries, but
it is a matter of time before these mercenaries regret allying with these
rebels," he said.
In a later press statement, Aguer called on foreign mercenaries to withdraw
from the town within the next 72 hours.
Multiple government officials have accused the government of neighbouring
Sudan of aiding the rebels with military hardware and air cover.
"We know very well that rebels did not have any capacity to take Bentiu;
otherwise they would not have fled when the SPLA forces captured it from
them in January," said Daniel Jok, a member of the ruling Sudan People's
Liberation Movement (SPLM) from the oil-contested region of Abyei.
"What happened is an indication that there is [a] foreign hand in this
attack. There is no question that they (rebels) came from Sudan, because
this is where they fled and we have been receiving reports of [the] training
[of] recruits there," he added.
In the first public account of the events which led up to the town's
recapture, Jok said Sudanese fighter jets made multiple, close-range passes
in South Sudanese air space on Saturday amid escalating tensions in the
region.
"This provocative military action goes against international protocols and
previous agreements," Jok told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.
The Sudanese army (SAF) issued a statement this week denying pro-Machar
rebels were receiving training at camps inside Sudan.
SAF spokesperson Al-Sawarmi Khalid Saad said Sudan remain a neutral position
on the conflict and had no intention of interfering in the internal affairs
of South Sudan.
Saad was responding to comments attributed to Aguer in the Londan-based
Asharq Alawsat newspaper on Tuesday, in which the latter said the rebel
troops that attacked Bentiu this week were trained inside Sudan.
"What we know now is that Machar forces received training inside Sudanese
territory and under the supervision of the government army," Aguer told
Asharq Alawsat.
"What we know now is that Machar forces received training inside Sudanese
territory and under the supervision of the government army," he said.
In a statement issued following the town's recapture, the rebel Sudan
Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition called on oil companies operating in
government-controlled areas to cease oil production and evacuate all staff
within a week.
Rebel military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang said oil companies
that fail to comply are risking the safety of their staff and may face a
forced shutdown of production.
Unity state has changed hands several times since political tensions erupted
in violence in the capital, Juba, in mid-December.
South Sudan: Officials Blame Bureaucratic Bungling for Fall of Bentiu Town
17 April 2014
Juba - South Sudan's government is sharply divided over the recapture of
Unity state capital Bentiu town, with top level military officers blaming
officials at the ministry of finance and individuals close to the president
for the failure to deliver military supplies. Rebels aligned with former
vice-president recaptured the strategic, oil-rich town on Monday after
reportedly receiving support from foreign mercenaries.
A top military officer in the operations department at the general
headquarters told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday said troops on the ground had
been let down after funds needed to hire aircraft to deliver the supplies,
including ammunitions, to Bentiu and Upper Nile state capital Malakal were
not released in time.
"The people who are supposed to help in expediting the processes are those
close to the president. They needed to have pushed those at the ministry of
finance who were slow to act because they did not receive official
instructions," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
"The moral of our forces was high, but they were let down by [the] lack of
seriousness by those who should have acted," he added.
Gordon Buay, the spokesperson for former rebel faction South Sudan
Liberation Army (SSLA), which now fights alongside government troops after
accepting a presidential amnesty, blamed the fall of the town on the
leadership in Juba, calling on the president to investigate the "negligence"
of government agencies.
According to Buay, soldiers under the command of Major General Puljang
Mathews had pulled out of Rubkona without notifying other colleagues,
allegedly due to a lack of ammunitions, allowing rebels to enter the town
with little armed resistance.
"They (government troops) pulled out because they had no ammunitions but
this mistake had been corrected and it is [just] a matter of time and it
will be recaptured. Just give us few days to recapture the town," said Buay.
He also confirmed that one of his colleagues, who he named as Maj-Gen Karlo
Kuol, had been captured by rebel forces after running out of ammunition.
"I am really upset with the negligence of Bilpam. President Kiir should
order an investigation," Buay told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.