Kiir warns South Sudan is facing ‘security threats of different forms’

JUBA – President Salva Kiir Mayardit said on Thursday that South Sudan, the war-torn world’s youngest country’ is facing security threats of different forms and entrusted the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) to perform their duty and protect civilians.

Kiir made the comments while speaking during the opening of the 8^th Command Council Conference of the army at the headquarters of the ministry of defense in Bilpam where senior army commanders are expected to deliberate on the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

The president told the army that while the SSPDF mandate is to protect the country, its people and their properties, the head of state said that South Sudan warned that the country is under different kinds of security threats and called on the army to exercise their mandate of protecting the people.

“While your key mandate is the defense of South Sudan’s territory, its people and their properties, we are today faced by security threats of different forms. We have inter and intra communal violence, cattle rustling, road ambushes and urban violence,” he said.

“All these pose serious security threats to our people. And they require you in military leadership to be on state of operational readiness to assist other organized forces tackled this when called upon,” the head of state added.

The president did not however specify the threats the country is facing, but there has been, as of recent, a widespread wave of attacks against civilians mostly in the oil-rich Upper Nile state where armed youth from Jonglei State have been attacking IDPs in the Shilluk Kingdom.

He stressed that the extension of the transitional period by the parties to the revitalized peace agreement without the mediation of external bodies is in itself an achievement by the South Sudanese political forces and urged the forces to deploy for peacebuilding.

“The parties to the Agreement signed the Roadmap 2022 in September this year. This document was negotiated by the parties themselves without external direction. That alone was itself an achievement,” he said.

“Along with this political process, we expect the military leadership to complement it by working on, streamlining deployment of the necessary unified forces, commencing phase II of the training of the remaining unified forces and building on the success already made in the process of the unification,” added Kiir.