According to Brig. Gen. William Gatjiath Deng, the military spokesperson of the SPLA-IO Kitgwang faction under the command of Gen. Gatwech Dual, their forces have dislodged Machar’s forces and captured most of their heavy weapons.
“The forces of the former chairman Dr Riek Machar, have been totally annihilated in Kit Gwang HQs, and we are in pursuit.” Gatjiath said.
“Their 55 Tank and BM have been captured in good condition. SPLA-IO Viva!” He continued.
The former military spokesman to Machar, William Gatjiath, broke the news this morning claiming that Machar’s forces attacked their positions; however, supporters of Machar’s led SPLA-IO claim that their position was attacked.
“The forces loyal to the former Chairman Dr Riek Machar, have attacked Magenis (kitgwang) HQs right now. The mightiest Force all under command of the interim Chairman and Commander in Chief, Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual, has heavily confronted them.” Brig. Gen. William Gatjiath Deng said.
The two factions of SPLM/A-IO started fighting this morning around 6:25am, South Sudan local time, however, Machar’s forces were outnumbered and dislodged from Magenis in less than 45 minutes.
At the time of this report, Gatwech’s forces claimed to be in full control of Magenis.
The former Chief of Staff has been a long-term loyalist to Machar since early 1990s when Machar broke away from the SPLM/A mainstream. Gatwech fought fiercely in defense of Machar’s legacy until early 2000 after most of his senior colleagues turned their back on Machar.
He also stood his ground in 2015 when some of his deputies and other senior generals abandoned Machar over his decision to sign a peace agreement they didn’t approve.
Gatwech went on to accompany Machar to Juba in 2016; however, they were dislodged from Juba in less than 4 months and pursued to DRC, a decision Gatwech openly regrets to repeat in 2019-2021.
Gatwech recently refused to join Machar in Juba to work as a presidential advisor on peace, arguing that the peace agreement is not being implemented and IDPs are left to suffer.
On the other hand, Machar’s leadership in Juba is accusing Gatwech of being a warmonger calling him a peace spoiler who is allegedly being sponsored by their peace partners to derail the peace agreement.
“The SPLA-IO would like to point out that the incident that is happening in Magenis is related to the incidents that happened in Maiwut, Kajo Keji, Maban, and Lieng due to encouraged and sponsored defections from the peace partner.” Lt. Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam wrote in his latest press statement.
