SPLA-IO generals killed in clashes with RSF in Renk County village

RENK – Three high-ranking officers of South Sudan’s main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) are among many of their elements killed in clashes with Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over the weekend in a border village located in Upper Nile state’s Renk County.

The fighting erupted on Saturday when RSF fighters ambushed an SPLA-IO unit near Dukduk, about 50 kilometers southwest of Renk town and close to the Sudanese border and only around 20 kilometers to the west of Bout, the capital of Blue Nile state’s Tadamon locality.

The clashes continued into Sunday before subsiding.

Two senior SPLA-IO officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to Sudans Post that Major General Biel Goanar and Major General Gatwech Gai, who were leading a company-sized force from Maiwut County, were killed along with Brigadier General Peter Parjiek Toang, who was already in the area.

“The generals were leading a company when they came under a surprise attack,” one officer said. “They fought back, but the RSF had the upper hand. Maj. Gen. Biel Goanar and Maj. Gen. Gatwech Gai were killed in battle, while Brig. Gen. Peter Parjiek was captured and later executed.”

A separate source said the SPLA-IO unit, comprising around 400 troops, had traveled from Maiwut County, allegedly to collect weapons from the Sudanese military in Bout. The RSF intercepted them near Dukduk.

Since the outbreak of Sudan’s war in April 2023, South Sudanese fighters have been documented fighting on both sides of the conflict, and the latest clashes underscore their growing entanglement.

Footage circulating online appeared to show RSF fighters pursuing SPLA-IO troops and capturing prisoners of war. The exact number of casualties remains unclear, but social media reports suggest the toll could be in the hundreds.

The SPLA-IO, led by South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar, was a key faction in South Sudan’s civil war from 2013 to 2018 fitted against the SPLA, now the SSPDF, and remains a major player in the country’s fragile transitional government.

During the war, many of its leaders were based in Khartoum, and the group relied on Sudan for logistics.

SPLA-IO spokesman Col. Lam Paul Gabriel declined to comment when reached by Sudans Post, while South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) spokesman Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang was not reachable.