Gen. Johnson Olony Thabo. |File Photo|.
Saturday, 24 January 2025
South Sudan is on the brink of an all-out war as the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In-Opposition (SPLA-IO) prepare for renewed conflict.
This escalation poses an existential threat to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.
Johnson Olony, the SSPDF Assistant Chief of Defence Forces for Mobilisation and Disarmament, who previously commanded the Agwelek militia, instructed the government troops in Baidit to go on the offensive in SPLA-IO-controlled areas in the Lou-Nuer region, northern Jonglei State.
His orders included a directive to destroy all property and livestock.
“This [battle] will mark the end of problems in the Upper Nile region. When we arrive there, don’t spare an elderly person, don’t spare a chicken, don’t spare a house, or anything. We are tired of problems every year until we grow old in problems,” Olony stated.
In 2024, the Agwelek militia group was integrated into the SSPDF, following the agreement reached in Khartoum in 2022.
These mobilization efforts follow the SPLA-IO’s recent capture of the SSPDF Pajut barracks, where they captured 23 prisoners of war and seized military machinery.
Besides this, the SSPDF Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Paul Nang Majok ordered the recapture of Pajut and SPLA-IO strongholds within seven days, demanding that opposition forces surrender or face forceful disarmament.
The SPLA-IO and the allied White Army have been mobilizing to defend their positions. This military buildup in Bor town risks plunging the country back into a full-scale civil war.
Graham Maitland, the deputy special representative of the UN Secretary-General for political affairs, said the renewed conflict that started in December 2025 between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO) and the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) in Jonglei State has displaced more than 180, 000 people, mostly women, children, and the elderly. In addition, hundreds have been subjected to abduction, while sexual violence has increased by 40% compared to 2024.
The South Sudan People’s Movement/Army (SSPM/A) condemned Olony’s directives, saying such declarations constitute a grave incitement to violence and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law.
“Militia Commander Olony Thabo’s statements reveal a profound disregard for the principles of distinction and proportionality that govern legitimate military conduct. His rhetoric is a reckless attempt to inflame ethnic tensions and pit the communities of South Sudan against one another, thereby serving the interests of a regime seeking to obscure its failures through tribal conflict,” Gen. Stephen Buay Rolnyang, the SSPM/A commander, said.
