South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) on Wednesday recovered more than 1,200 guns from civilians in Western Equatorial State in an ongoing peaceful disarmament campaign.
Maj. Gen Lul Ruai Koang, SSPDF spokesperson told The Dawn on Wednesday that the illegal firearms include Kalashnikov (AK-47) rifles, homemade guns and machetes.
Koang said the disarmament which started over a month ago, covered more than five or six counties of Western Equatorial State.
He said the collection shot up from the initial 700 to over 1,000 after citizens were threatened with forced disarmament and fines of over 750,000 South Sudan Pounds.
“Yesterday, I got in touch with the division commander. He told me the number shot up from 700 to 1,200 because of two reasons. One, after the grace period elapsed, the locals were threatened with the imposition of a fine of about 750,000 SSP and that guns would be also collected forcefully,” Koang disclosed.
“So that made them quite scared because conceding from peaceful disarmament, which is about handing over a gun voluntarily without consequences, was going to be a double punishment. You give your gun, your gun is collected forcefully and you pay a fine,” he added.
He noted that civilians are responding well to the peaceful disarmament, adding that the operation will continue as long as the division commander deems it necessary.
The disarmament exercise kicked off in May in Western Equatoria State, following renewed violence on 24th April 2024 between the Balanda and Azande communities in Tambura County.
The fighting has killed scores of civilians and displaced mostly women and children.
It is marked by killings, kidnappings, disappearances and destruction of property. The violence between the two communities first erupted in June 2021, with some local leaders alleging that the feuding communities are being backed by both the SSPDF and armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in opposition (SPLA-IO).
South Sudan is flooded with illegal guns in the hands of civilians following decades of civil wars before and after independence.
