South Sudan's armed forces and rebels were on Friday ordered to report to military camps, a much-awaited step towards creating a unified national army as part of a peace accord.

The deal, signed in September 2018 in a bid to end almost six years of conflict, has suffered heavy delays.

One of its biggest hurdles has been the logistics of creating so-called cantonment sites, where troops and rebels are screened, trained and integrated into a single force.

The Joint Defense Board (JDB), comprising military commanders from the army and rebel forces, told a press briefing on Friday it had secured food and other essentials to begin the programme.

"JDB today made a very big decision," rebel SPLA-IO spokesman Col. Lam Paul Gabriel told the media in Juba.

"Today they have made it very clear that forces by tomorrow should report to cantonment sites immediately." The forces have been told to report by July 30.

The government's military spokesman Major General Lul Ruai Koang said all the government forces were also ordered to report to their barracks.

The warring parties were supposed to assemble and train their forces together within eight months of the signing of the deal.

But this failed to happen and a six-month extension was agreed in May.

More than 20 cantonment sites have been selected across the country, but forces have complained there is insufficient food, shelter and medicine for them to move there.

South Sudan's war broke out in 2013, two years after independence, after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup against him.

The fighting has left 380,000 people dead and forced more than four million South Sudanese -- almost a third of the population -- to flee their homes. Numerous attempts at peace have failed.

Under the terms of the agreement, Machar is to return from exile to serve as vice president in a power-sharing government which must now be in place by November.

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Sudan protesters reject 'absolute immunity' for generals
Khartoum (AFP) July 16, 2019
Sudan's key protest group is opposed to giving the military "absolute immunity" against prosecution for violence against demonstrators, a spokesman said, as the two sides held talks on a power sharing deal. "We refuse absolute immunity that the military rulers have asked for," Ismail al-Taj, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) protest group told reporters in Khartoum. His comments came just before the ruling generals and protest leaders sat down to fine tune the landmark ... read more