This Week in South Sudan – Week 40

Monday 3 October

• At least 12 Dinka Bor cattle keepers were killed in the outskirts of Juba over the weekend.
• African Affairs: “Briefing: Prospects for Peace and the UN Regional Protection Force in South Sudan”
• The Economist Explains: “Why South Sudan is still at war”

Tuesday 4 October

• Nestle’s Nespresso is temporarily suspending imports from South Sudan citing deteriorating security conditions in Central Equatoria.
• The SPLA (IO) claim to have clashed with government forces around the towns of Yei, Morobo and Kaya in Central Equatoria State. The Government of South Sudan (GOSS) denied that any fighting had taken place.
• US National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice met with Taban Deng.
  • The White House: “Readout of National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice’s Meeting with First Vice President Taban Deng”

Wednesday 5 October

• Authorities from the Democratic Republic of Congo have issued an ultimatum demanding the U.N. peacekeeping mission, MONUSCO, to deport the SPLA (IO) soldiers they rescued in August.

Thursday 6 October

• The SPLA (IO) claim the Sudanese rebel groups Justice for Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLM-N) fight alongside government forces in Unity State. JEM later denied these allegations.
• UNMISS denied claims in the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) report that UN peacekeepers failed to protect civilians during the July violence in Juba.
• Riek Machar has dispatched a team of senior SPLM (IO) officials to Washington D.C. to engage the U.S. administration on the situation in South Sudan.
• Time: “How to Ensure Lasting Peace in South Sudan”

Friday 7 October

• The Interim Cooperation Framework, comprised of the Government of South Sudan and 20 UN agencies, funds and programs, seeks about USD $900 million to rebuild the economy over the next two years.
• Human rights advocates allege that U.S. military assistance to South Sudan and six other nations circumvent parts of the 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act.
• Armed opposition forces allied to Riek Machar have blocked major and key strategic roads to and from Yei town, Central Equatoria State.
• Time: “Portraits of South Sudanese Refugees”

Saturday 8 October

• South Sudan’s inflation rate has risen 682 per cent in the past year according to South Sudan’s Bureau of Statistics.

Sunday 9 October

• The SPLA issued a statement seeking regional support to designate the SPLM (IO) as a “terrorist” group.

Monday 10 October:

• Three passenger buses traveling from Kampala to Juba were attacked at Jebel-Lein on the Juba-Nimule highway. The circumstances of the ambush and the faith of the passengers remain
• A roadside attack at Ganyi, along the Yei-Juba road, left at least 30 people dead. The passengers from a convoy of commercial vehicles were reportedly separated according to their ethnicity, and passengers from the Dinka people were subsequently killed.
• The SPLA (IO) claimed to have captured Kediba, the headquarters of Mundri East county, in Western Equatoria State.