Gov’t supplied Murle with weapons to attack Lou-Nuer, Gawaar in February -UN report

JUBA – South Sudan government security bodies had in February this year supplied Murle’s Cobra faction led by General David Yau Yau weapons which were used in attacks against Lou-Nuer and Gawaar villages in the country’s Jonglei state, according to a United Nations report obtained by Sudans Post.

In February, fighting erupted in Jonglei’s Pibor area after heavily armed Murle youth attacked several villages in Greater Akobo and Greater Fangak triggering revenge attacks. At the time, unconfirmed reports emerged of government supplying arms to Murle even angering the Dinka ethnic group there in the state.

In a report released yesterday, the United Nations said senior commanders of the South Sudan People’s Defense Force (SSPDF) and the country’s National Security Service (NSS) chief General Akol Kor Kuc supplied weapons to Murle to attack Lou-Nuer and Gawaar sections of the Nuer ethnic groups in the state.

“Lieutenant General Kuc, the presidential adviser on Murle affairs, Akot Lual Arech, and the head of South Sudan People’s Defence Forces Military Intelligence, Lieutenant General Rin Tueny Mabor Deng, known as “Janafil”, armed General David Yau Yau’s Cobra Faction of SSPDF and other Murle militias during fighting in February and March,” the report said.

“The Panel corroborated through confidential sources and documentation that the Internal Security Bureau and Division 3 of SSPDF supported and participated in Cobra Faction operations against Gawaar Nuer and Lou Nuer villages. As part of the military support, in May, multiple confidential sources in Gumuruk, in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area corroborated that an SSPDF helicopter delivered 27 rocket-propelled grenades, 1,004 AK-47 assault rifles, 126 Kalashnikov general machine guns and ammunition to Murle militias,” the report added.

“In addition, in June, Lieutenant General Tueny, through Major General Korok Nhial, provided General Yau Yau’s fighters with ammunition, grenade launchers and at least 50 boxes of modernized automatic Kalashnikov rifles from the existing SSPDF stockpiles. The weapons were used in attacks against Dinka Bor communities living in the central and southern parts of Jonglei.

“Separately, the Panel received reliable information that senior Dinka Bor officers in SSPDF supported Dinka Bor militias with logistical support, weaponry and ammunition from government supplies under the control of SSPDF Division 8. In the months prior to the fighting, sanctioned individual and former SSPDF Chief of Staff, First Lieutenant General Gabriel Jok Riak Makol (SSi.001), and the former Minister of Defence, Kuol Manyang Juuk, had provided weapons and ammunition to Dinka Bor militias.

“In Jonglei and Upper Nile, the Gawaar Nuer and Lou Nuer militias also received government-supplied arms. In March, the Director General of the General Intelligence Bureau of the National Security Service, Lieutenant General Thomas Duoth Guet, supplied Kalashnikov machine guns and AK-47 rifles and related ammunition to Gawaar Nuer and Lou Nuer militias. In addition, as part of a separate supply of weapons, SPLA-IO provided the same militias in Jonglei and Upper Nile with weaponry and military support.

“As the Panel has previously reported (see S/2019/301 and S/2020/342), weapons have been illicitly diverted from government stockpiles to supply militias and other non-State armed groups. Considering the significant threat to peace and security from Government weapons that are unaccounted for, the Panel recommends that the Security Council request an independent evaluation of the Government’s management of its stockpile.”