Dr. Riek Machar, First Vice President of the republic of South Sudan - Courtesy

The army spokesperson has stated that Dr. Riek Machar, the leader of the SPLA/IO, interfered with the evacuation of SSPDF soldiers displaced by the Nasir conflict and should be held accountable for the loss of lives during the incident.

On Friday, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan reported that several SSPDF members, including an injured General, were killed while attempting to evacuate from the area. This attempt was made at the request of all parties involved.

A UN assistant pilot was also killed during the attack.

According to Major General Lul Ruai at Bilpam, the SSPDF forces had been under the protection of the local population when Dr. Machar ordered his forces to remove them from the civilians’ care.

“Dr. Riek Machar interfered with some of his officers here. They provided the local administrator in Akobo County with a list of the soldiers. Riek sent his forces, under the command of Major General James Utong Liah, to forcibly remove those SSPDF personnel from the local population that had been protecting them for the past seven days.

The locals, however, resisted the move, expressing concerns that the safety of the soldiers could not be guaranteed if the soldiers were taken by a third party.

“The community resisted because they feared the safety of the soldiers couldn’t be guaranteed if taken by a third party,” said Lul.

When his order was not succeeding, General Lul stated that Dr. Machar allegedly called the local population, asking them to hand over the soldiers to his forces for transportation to the SSPDF.

The local population refused.

According to Lul, Dr. Machar then claimed he would send a plane to pick up the detained soldiers from their location. Major Lul Ruai emphasized that Dr. Machar’s interference was a key factor in the incident.

“After realizing his efforts were failing, Dr. Machar contacted the local population, asking them to hand over the soldiers so his forces could transport them and then return them to the SSPDF.

“They (civilians) refused. Then he said he would send a plane to pick them up. This interference was the first problem in our efforts, and if it ends like it did in Nasir, you’ll know he directly interfered with our security forces’ operations.”

Major General Lul further stated that the SPLA/IO leadership was directly involved and should be held accountable for the deaths in Nasir.

“The leadership of SPLA/IO, under Dr. Riek and Lieutenant General Gabriel Doup Lam, could have stopped him, but they didn’t. This would have prevented the continuation of events that aimed at obstructing the implementation of transitional security arrangements. He managed to avoid accountability for it.

“It’s crucial to understand that the SPLA/IO was directly involved and should be held accountable for the lives lost in Nasir or elsewhere. The international community should hold Dr. Riek Machar, as chairman and commander-in-chief, responsible.”

In response, Puok Both Baluang, the acting Press Secretary in the Office of the First Vice President of South Sudan, clarified the situation regarding the alleged incident.

He stated that it was the SSPDF who made the call to inform the First Vice President through the Buong Payam administrator.

In turn, Puok stated that the First Vice President contacted Maj. Gen. James Utong Liah, Commander of SPLA-IO Division 8, to notify him of the soldiers’ presence and instruct him to provide protection.