BREAKING: Machar Rebels Threaten to Attack UPDF Base in Bor
South Sudan rebels loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar are weighing the possibility of attacking bases held by the Uganda Special Forces combat units in Bor, raising concerns about their commitment to the ongoing peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Uganda army officials inspecting some of the weapons recovered from Riek Machar rebels in Bor this year
While President Salva Kiir is expected to sign a comprehensive peace agreement with Machar in Ethiopia next week, the rebel movement’s spokesperson Brig Lul Ruai Koang told Chimpreports on Sunday that Bor is “vulnerable to winds of change.”
This is not the first time rebels are planning or threatening to strike the strategic town.
Koang told this website in April that SPLA/SPLM Forces were moving with “lightening speed” to Bor after capturing some town in the Upper Nile.
UPDF spokesperson Lt Col Paddy Ankunda responded by warning rebels of “grave consequences” if they carried on with plans to raid Bor.
He said an attack on the town would be “at their (rebels) peril. We are waiting for them. We have warned them that we are well prepared to receive them,” said Ankunda.
The fall of Bor would provide rebels a highway to Juba, the political seat of President Salva Kiir’s government.
Sources said all the Special Forces units remain on high alert to respond to any attacks by the rebels – who recently swept through the oil town of Bentiu and others, leaving a trail of bloodshed and destruction of property.
Koang said South Sudan troops “that had been occupying Gadiang forward base in Duk County, Jonglei had abandoned it along with Poktap, and Wernyol barracks.”
He added: “Other smaller military outposts were also abandoned. Salva’s forces and Allies are currently heading to Bor vie Panyagor, the Administrative headquarters of Twic East County. SPLA’s Gallant Forces are occupying abandoned bases to avoid security vacuum and possible lawlessness.”
Konag further emphasised that the “withdrawal” leaves troops tripped in Ayod with no other options apart from following suit.
“Some of the troops on retreat, mostly from Greater Bahr El Ghazal Region crossed over to neighbouring Lakes State where they were engaged in a three hour gun battle by loyalist forces opposed to abandonment of defensive positions. With no UPDF forces in forward bases, Bor is left vulnerable to winds of change, Juba and eventually the whole country.”
Atrocities
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) recently strongly condemned opposition forces for killing “hundreds of South Sudanese and foreign civilians” after determining their ethnicity or nationality when they captured Bentiu town in April.
The killings included attacks on a hospital, mosque and church, and a UN World Food Programme (WFP) compound.
“These atrocities must be fully investigated and the perpetrators and their commanders shall be held accountable,” said the Officer in Charge of UNMISS, Raisedon Zenenga, who also urged the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) forces and the Government troops to respect the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement they signed in January.
The rebels denied the massacre which has since shocked the world.
United States and UN recently warned rebels they would face charges of war crimes at the International Criminal Court if they continued to pursue a military path in resolving their conflicts with Kiir.
US top envoy to United Nations, Samantha Power said all opposition forces “responsible for South Sudan horrors and deliberately targeting civilians must be held accountable.”
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