By William Madouk Garang
The government has instructed trainees to report themselves to cantonment sites with the rifles assigned to them, or unit weapons as phase two of Necessary Unified Forces (NUF) nears.
Deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Deng Dau Deng, said during phase-one training, most trainees did not bring along their guns and now government established that any trainee must report to site with own rifle.
“The government is soon to launch phase-two of the NUF into the cantonment areas. One of the actions points the government already discussed is that the force that moved to Upper Nile is very large and they are supposed to go to cantonment area,” Deng said.
“In the phase one – people were coming to the training areas without guns but now the government has made very specific that if you are to come to the cantonment area – you must come with your personal or unit weapon or personal rifles and other weapons that are supposed to be handed over,” he added.
He added that the government has directed the National Transitional Committee – a body in charge of chapter two of the security arrangement and training to assemble the forces and take them to training sites.
Mr. Deng said this on Friday while briefing the diplomats in Juba on the ongoing conflict in Jonglei, Upper Nile and Greater Pibor Administrative area.
The deputy minister further noted that under benchmark three, the government is tasked to create stores for collected arms and bullets from hands of civilians and forces.
“We are supposed to create stockpiling and ammunition and disposal of all weapons that are there in the hands of civilians and first in the hands of those forces. This is the only safe way for the people of South Sudan and for them as soldiers to able to settle,” he stressed.
“So, the government is giving a very clear directive to those forces that have moved and those areas of Akobo and to Uror that cannot be reached for the forces to go into cantonment area,” THE deputy minister advised.
Under chapter two of the 2018 security arrangement protocol, there shall be 83,000 necessary unified forces charged with maintaining the security during the ongoing transitional period.