Author: Web Desk

Fighters belonging to an armed group attacked the medical staff members of a hospital in West Darfur, said a local medical group on Wednesday and called to arrest the perpetrators.

“A group affiliated with one of the armed movements beat up medical personnel in Morni Rural Hospital in Krenk locality,” reads a statement issued by West Darfur Doctors Committee.

The statement further described the attack as “brutal” and that some of the victims were women and men over sixty years of age.

The attack was the third of its kind in the West Darfur hospitals this week, two physical attacks on physicians occurred at El Geneina Teaching Hospital.

Darfur doctors say the armed groups that returned to the country from Libya after the peace agreement increased verbal or physical abuses in hospitals.

The statement did not name their group.

48-hours warning

The West Darfur doctors called on the state authorities to arrest the culprits and to hold them accountable saying the security authorities bear the responsibility for this violence.

“We hold the government, its security committee, and its military apparatus fully responsible for what is happening and what the situation will lead to if this phenomenon continues without stopping it”.

The medical group warned they would give the authorities 48 hours to arrest the perpetrators otherwise they would stage an “unprecedented wave of escalation” to preserve their safety.

The committee said that lack of accountability encourages the repetition of crimes by the former rebel fighters, as perpetrators feel free to commit further offences without fear.

The statement pointed that alleged negligence while delivering services cannot justify the brutal attacks and offences on medical personnel.

“The medical staff members who are working under very bad conditions cannot bear the consequences of the collapse of the health system,” stressed.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The leadership of the National Salvation Front (NAS) has denied the hold-out group’s alleged involvement in recent attacks on the Juba-Nimule highway in South Sudan.

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Thomas Cirillo Swaka (Photo Reuters)

He denial comes in the wake of accusations labelled against the group by the country’s authorities.

“The leadership of NAS refutes these baseless and unfounded accusations and strongly condemns these Juba regime’s agents and peddlers of lies for their futile attempt to mislead the people of South Sudan and members of the international community with false accusations,” Suba Samuel Manase, the spokesperson for the hold-out group said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

He accused the Juba regime of sponsoring criminal gangs terrorising civilians on Juba-Nimule road.

“NAS urges its members, people of South Sudan and members of the international community to be vigilant and not pay attention to the disinformation propaganda of the regime in Juba,” said Manase.

Meanwhile, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) have warned Ugandans against travelling to South Sudan without the backing of the military or police.

The warning comes in the wake of several ambushes on the Juba-Nimule highway in which truck drivers and dozens of passengers have either been shot dead or injured.

The latest incident on Sunday saw unknown gunmen shoot at a convoy of three trucks on the same highway.

“That route is not safe for our people; the moment they reach Elegu Border, they should first ensure that the routes are secured,” Lt Hammed Hassan Kato from the UPDF 4th Division told Daily Monitor on Tuesday.

“Given the [war] situation in South Sudan, there are a lot of wrong people and groups right now there,” he added.

Kato said Ugandans should establish whether the South Sudanese army (SSPDF) have sent in forces to picket and secure the routes so that they can move in and out when they are safe enough with their goods and resources.

Sunday’s ambush on the Juba-Nimule highway comes barely a week after another ambush on the same road left at least five people, including two nuns, dead.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Activists are calling for mass protests in Juba and other parts o South Sudan amid demands for President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar to step down.

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Anti-corruption activists demonstrate in South Sudan capital Juba, June 11, 2012 (ST)

The activists are doubtful that provisions in the peace deal would be implemented if the two leaders remained at the helm of the country’s leadership.

The development is envisioned to be one of the first of its kind since the secession of the country from neighboring Sudan in 2011.

“These are people who do not agree when they are given the opportunity to sit alone and talk as leaders of the country and as comrades of the liberation struggle. They are people who can never agree and think they have the support of the people of South Sudan, each thinks he is popular. But they do not know people of South Sudan are tired of them,” a civil rights activist told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

He added, “People see them as a liability than leaders. They polarize the country when they are in power and kill people when they are in dispute. We do not want this to happen again, and this is the reason we are calling for them to step aside. Those close to them are only fooling them. They are not telling them the truth”.

The activists, operating under People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA), accused Kiir and Machar of failure to govern the country.

Meanwhile, South Sudan Youth Union has appealed to the public to shun the protests, saying it would place the nation in perpetual political and security instability.

“We are saying no to protest because any change of the government through either coup or staged popular uprising always pushes the country into political instability, chaos, civil wars, and economic meltdown. And we have seen before in countries like Tunisia, Mali, Libya, Syria, and many other countries. thus, for this reason, and many others, we call on the initiators and supporters of the People’s Coalition for civil action to reconsider their position or totally back down from it for the sake of salvaging or rescuing our country from sliding into anarchy and worst political unrest,” the group said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

The union, in a statement, stressed the need to hold elections in 2023 as stipulated in the peace agreement so that ballot becomes the only possible remedy for exiting from the current crisis.

“We call on the police service and other law enforcement agencies in South Sudan to remain vigilant and continue protecting the lives and properties and prevent public violence,” it stressed.

Source: Sudan Tribune

A South Sudanese presidential aide on Monday belittled accusations that President Salva Kiir was hindering security arrangements implementation to strengthen his grip on power stressing his full commitment to the revitalized peace pact.

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President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar in Juba, October 20, 2019 (PPU)

“President Salva Kiir is not at all an obstacle to the implementation of the peace agreement,” said Presidential Adviser for National Security Affairs Tut Gatluak in response to statements by SPLM-IO Spokesman Manawa Gathuoth about his refusal to implement an agreement providing to from the new unified army on an equal share of troops.

Gatluak told the Sudan Tribune that Kiir “made it a personal commitment” to ensure the enforcement of the security arrangements and form the unified national army from the signatory groups.

“There is a political will from his Excellency the President of the Republic, General Salva Kiir Mayardit and the First Vice-President Dr Riek Machar. They have directed the mechanisms to speed up the discussions. This shows there is a strong will at the leadership level,” he said.

The IGAD Chair Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok was in Juba for talks with President Kiir and his First Deputy Riek Machar over the stalled implementation of the security arrangements but he failed to bridge the gaps between them.

The presidential aide further said that Kiir had directed the chief of defence forces and members of the Joint Defence Board to tour the training centres of the joint troops to assure them of the government’s commitment to implement the revitalized peace agreement.

With regard to the share of the parties in the composition of the new army, he said the matter would be tackled through the joint mechanism. Also, he pointed out to progress made in the discussions by the reconstituted Joint Monitoring Evaluation Commission.

“Everything is progressing well, and we are confident that our brothers in the mechanisms will expedite the discussions and we are hopeful that soon this will see the leaders form a unified command,” he added.

SPLM-IO said they are ready to accept the IGAD proposed solution that the army command be formed of 45% from the former opposition groups and 55% from the government forces. However, they insist on equal share for the troops.

Military officials in Juba told Sudan Tribune that the high ranking military officers are not enthusiastic for equal representation.

Source: Sudan Tribune