Gov’t accused of creating rifts within rebel group

JUBA, JULY 2, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – The National Salvation Front (NAS) led by General Thomas Cirilo Swaka has accused the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit of creating rifts among its rank and file, obstructing peace efforts.

The holdout opposition group says the government for the last two years has been masterminding splits within the holdout opposition group despite the ongoing peace talks hosted in Rome by Sant’Egidio Community.

“For the last two (2) years the regime of Salva Kir has been trying to demobilize forces of NAS by orchestrating splits and defections within the ranks and files of its forces,” NAS said in a statement signed by its spokesman Suba Samuel Manase.

“This plan has failed miserably as NAS intelligence foiled the plot,” the statement, a copy of which was extended to Sudans Post, reads in part.

The statement was in response to an accusation from the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) which implicated the rebel movement in illegal gold mind in some parts of Equatoria region in order to sustain its war efforts.

It dismissed the claim by the army and instead said that illegal practices “are privatized to individuals close to the office of the President, some Vice Presidents, National Security, Military Intelligence, SSPDF commanders and some State Governors.”