The South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) has dared the Bari Community leadership of Central Equatoria State to dispel the army’s stand that the rebel National Salvation Front (NAS) has a presence in Mangala Payam.

This follows several counter exchanges, through the press and public statements, made by the army, the Bor Community, and the Bari Community leaders because of clashes between pastoralists from Bor and Bari tribesmen.

SSPDF Spokesperson Major General Lul Ruai, during a press conference convened on Tuesday at the military headquarters in Juba, tasked the chairperson of the Bari Community, Stephen Pitia Lako, to prove that there were no NAS rebels in Mangala because the SSPDF knows otherwise.

Genesis

In mid-December and through the Christmas festive season, youth from Mangala Payam of Juba County clashed with Dinka Bor pastoralists, forcing many Bari households to flee to islands in River Nile.

On Christmas Day, the SSPDF said its troops on a reconnaissance clashed with NAS rebels in Mangala Payam and killed five rebel soldiers. NAS later released a statement saying they have no presence in the area.

Mangala Payam also hosts flood-displaced people from Bor County in Jonglei State who were settled there by mutual agreement between the Central Equatoria and the national ministry of humanitarian affairs and disaster management.

On 30 December 2022, Stephen Pitia Lako, the chairperson of the Bari Community, during a press conference in Juba, issued a strongly worded statement and called for the withdrawal of the SSPDF from the eastern and western banks of the River Nile.

He said the army, which was deployed to Mangala Payam to protect conflict-affected people, was now posing insecurity and preventing the movement of civilians and goods and shelling displaced civilians in the islands.

Bior. K. Bior, the chairman of the Bor Community Youth Association (BCYA), weighed in through a letter dated 26 December 2022 and faulted NAS rebels and Bari youths for attacking pastoralists from Bor who are IDPs in Mangala.

SSPDF response

However, on Tuesday, Gen Ruai called out the Bari Community leadership and tasked them to prove that there are no NAS rebel bases and or presence in Mangala and nearby islands and that the army killed innocent civilians.

He called for a joint fact-finding committee comprised of the SSPDF and the Bari Community.

Ruai said that before the bombardment of the island, SSPDF troops reconnoitring had been attacked after discovering NAS trenches in defensive positions.

“We in the SSPDF General Headquarters are calling and demanding for a joint fact-finding mission and verification team to be sent to some of the islands where we found foxholes and defensive trenches as well as show them the mortar shells we recovered after we engaged with NAS rebels,” Gen Ruai said.

He warned of legal action against the Bari community leader.

“For them to prove us wrong or for us to prove them wrong, it is only the fact-finding mission that will clear the air and will determine who is wrong in terms of saying this or that. What will happen to the chairperson of the Bari Community if he does not provide satisfactory answers to the fundamental questions?” Gen. Ruai asked. “There are three courses of action that can be taken; he could be forgiven for saying what he does not know; the second is that the SSPDF is an institution, and before the law, as an institution, has the right to be sued or sue if defamed.”

The SSPDF mouthpiece said his December 2022 statement on the Mangala clashes was taken out of context and that he did not refer to the Bari Community as NAS rebel fighters.

“In the first place, the first statement of SSDPF was taken out of context. There is not anywhere in my text where I said the Bari are NAS rebels. Even if we go for interpretation, there is nothing as such in that statement,” he said. - Radio Tamazuj