By Kei Emmanuel Duku
European Union, along with the Embassies of Canada, France, Germany, Norway, and others, have expressed disappointment regarding the recent escalation of violence in Nasir and Ulany County, Upper Nile State.
This escalation has resulted in loss of life and property.
Furthermore, the Western Nations and the EU have voiced concern over reports of the detention of senior military and civilian officials.
Recent reports indicate that the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) Deputy Chief and South Sudan Minister of Petroleum, Put Kanog, was arrested by the government.
These actions prompted the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to condemn the arrest and detention of senior political figures in the country.
The European Union and other Western Nations have joined IGAD in urging the government of South Sudan and all parties to the 2018 peace agreement to observe the cessation of hostilities.
This statement comes in the wake of recent waves of arrests following escalating tensions after the White Army, a local armed youth group, captured an SSPDF base in Nasir County, Upper Nile State.
The government alleges the White Army is allied with the SPLM/A-IO, a claim the opposition denies.
Government spokesperson Michael Makuei Lueth clarified that the officials were arrested because they were “in conflict with the law”
As of yesterday, at least 6 people had been detained and held incommunicado by the security.
Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam, Deputy Chief of Staff of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), and acting Chief of Staff of the SPLA-IO had been arrested on Tuesday.
Similarly, the minister of Petroleum, Puot Kang Chuol is also been arrested at his residence in the Thongpiny and Minister of Peace Building and Water Resources Stephen Par Kuol.
Those detained are; Gen. Koang Gatkuoth Kerjiok, Inspector General of the SSPDF – Gen. Wesley Welebe, Assistant Chief of Staff for Supply, Gen. Ashhab Khamis Fahal, Assistant Chief of Staff for Moral Orientation.
Others include Gen. Garang Ayii Akol, the Director General of Procurement at the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs, and a representative of the SSOA. All are under house arrest without security.
The detentions, however, take place against the backdrop of heightened political and security tensions, particularly in the three SPLM-IO-controlled states of Western Equatoria, Western Bahr el Ghazal, and Upper Nile.
Analysts speculated that the detentions are due to recent unrest in these states, as well as the difficulty in carrying out the 2018 peace agreement.