South Sudan People's Defence Forces

TheSouth Sudan People's Defence Forces(SSPDF), formerly theSudan People's Liberation Army(SPLA), is the military force of theRepublic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as aguerrillamovement against the government ofSudanin 1983 and was a key participant of theSecond Sudanese Civil War, led byJohn Garang. After Garang's death in 2005,Salva Kiirwas named the SPLA's new Commander-in-Chief. As of 2010, the SPLA was divided intodivisionsof 10,000–14,000 soldiers.
Following theComprehensive Peace Agreementin 2005, the last remaining large and well-equipped militia, theSouth Sudan Defence Forces(SSDF), under GeneralPaulino Matiep, signed an agreement with Kiir known as theJuba Declaration, which amalgamated the two forces under the SPLA banner.
FollowingSouth Sudan's independencein 2011, Kiir became President and the SPLA became the new republic's regular army. In May 2017 there was a restructure and the SPLA took on the name ofSouth Sudan Defence Forces(SSDF), with another change in September 2018 to South Sudan People's Defence Forces. As of 2018, the army was estimated to have 185,000 soldiers as well as an unknown number of personnel in the smallSouth Sudan Air Force. As of 2019, the SSPDF comprised the Ground Force, Air Force, Air Defence Forces and Presidential Guard.
On 16 May 1983 105 Battalion launched a mutiny in Malual-Chaat barrack,Boragainst the Sudanese army which later inspired a number of mutinies in the southern regionincluding those atAyod,Pochalla, andPibor. These mutinies led to the creation of the SPLAlater that year.
At its inceptionJohn Garangwas the SPLA's Commander-in-Chief.Kerubino Kuanyin Bolwas appointed second ranking Commander, andWilliam Nyuon Banythird.By June 1983, the majority of mutineers had moved toEthiopiaor were on their way there. The Ethiopian government's decision to support the emerging SPLA was a means of exacting revenge upon the Sudanese government for its support ofEritrean rebels.
The SPLA struggled for a united and secular Sudanese state.Garang said the struggle of the South Sudanese was the same as that of marginalised groups in the north, such as theNubaandFur peoples.Until 1985, the SPLA directed its public denouncements of the Sudanese government specifically at Sudanese President,Gaafar Nimeiry. During the years that followed, SPLA propaganda denounced theKhartoumgovernment as a family affair that played on sectarian tensions.The SPLA denounced the introduction ofSharialaw in September 1983.
The first fully-fledged SPLA battalion graduated in 1984 in the village of Bilpam. The name 'Bilpam' carried great symbolic importance for SPLA for years to come, as the epicentre of the uprising. After Bilpam, other SPLA training camps were established atDimma,BongaandPanyido.
In the mid-1980s the SPLA armed struggle blocked development projects of the Sudanese government, such as theBentiuOil Fields.
The SPLA launched its first advance intoEquatoriain 1985 and 1986. During this campaign, the SPLA were confronted by a number of pro-government militias. The conduct of SPLA forces was chaotic, with many atrocities against the civilian population. The SPLA drove out around 35,000Ugandanrefugees (who had settled in Equatoria since the early 1980s) back into Uganda.
The SPLA had a complicated relationship with theAnyanya II, a fellow southern Sudanese rebel group. The Anyanya II forces blocked the expansion of the SPLA between 1984 and 1987, as Anyanya II attacked SPLA recruits heading for Ethiopia. The Anyanya II also attacked civilians believed to be SPLA supporters.The conflict between Anyanya II and SPLA had a political dimension, as Anyanya II sought to build an independent southern Sudanese state.The SPLA tried to win over the leaders of Anyanya II.The Anyanya II commanderGordon Kong Chuolaligned with The SPLA in late 1987. Other sectors of the Anyanya II followed his example over the ensuing years, marginalizing the remainder of the Anyanya II who were allied with the Sudanese government.
Another force that confronted SPLA were theMurahaleenmilitias in northernBahr el-Ghazal. Warfare between SPLA andMurahaleenbegan in 1987. By 1988 SPLA controlled most of the northern Bahr el-Ghazal.Unlike the Anyanya II, theMurahaleenhad no political ambitions.
In March 1986, the SPLA kidnapped a Norwegian aid worker of theChristianNGO Kirkens Nødhjelp (Norwegian Church Aid).Moorcroft writes that by this time, 'training, weapons, and discipline improved as the guerillas won more and more victories. In November 1987 the guerillas captured the small town ofKurmaknear the Ethiopian border. It was 450 miles from the capital, but the nearby dam provided most of Khartoum's electricity.'
The SPLA boycotted the1986 Sudanese parliamentary election. In half of the constituencies of southern Sudan elections could not be held due to the SPLA boycott.
On November 15, 1988, the SPLA entered into an alliance with theDemocratic Unionist Party(DUP). The two groups agreed on the lifting of the state of emergency and abolition of Sharia law. The press release was made public through an announcement on Radio SPLA. After the DUP rejoined the government, a ceasefire with the SPLA was achieved.After the elections, negotiations between the SPLA andSadiq al-Mahdistarted, but were aborted after the SPLA shot down a civilian airplane, killing 60 people.
All peace talks ended following the1989 Sudanese coup d'état.In September 1989, the rulingRevolutionary Command Council for National Salvation(RCC) invited different sectors to a 'National Dialogue Conference', but the SPLA refused to attend.
The SPLA launched a major offensive between 1989 and the fall of the EthiopianDerggovernment in 1991. It captured various towns, such asBor,Waat,Maridi,Mundri,Yambio,Kaya,Kajo Keji,Nimule,Kapoeta,Torit,AkoboandNasir. By the middle of 1991, the SPLA controlled most parts of southern Sudan with the exception of the major garrison towns (Juba,Yei,MalakalandWau)Between January 21 and 29, 1990, SPLA shelled Juba. SPLA forces also moved into theNuba Mountainsand the southern parts of theBlue Nile State. In comparison with its 1985–1986 offensive in Equatoria, the conduct of SPLA was now more orderly.
The downfall of theDerggovernment in Ethiopia in May 1991 proved to be a major setback. The Ethiopian government had provided the SPLA with military supplies, training facilities and a safe haven for bases for 18 years. Soon after the change of government in Ethiopia, the SPLA accompanied hundreds of thousands of refugees back into Sudan.
A split in the SPLA had simmered since late 1990, asLam AkolandRiek Macharbegan to question Garang's leadership.Akol began secretly contacting SPLA officers to join his side, especially among theNuerandShilluk peoples.The situation deteriorated after the fall of the Derg.As the Derg regime crumbled, Akol published a document titledWhy Garang Must Go Now.The split was made public on August 28, 1991, in what became known as theNasir Declaration. The dissidents called for democratization of SPLA, a stop to human rights abuses, and an independent southern Sudan (Garang's goal of creating a united and secular Sudan). Kong Coul joined the rebellion.The 'SPLA-Nasir' was joined by the SPLA forces inAyod,Waat,Adok,Abwong,Lerand Akobo.A period of chaos reigned inside the SPLA, as it was not clear which units sided with Garang and which with the SPLA-Nasir.
Garang issued a statement through the SPLA radio communications system, denouncing the coup. Nine out of eleven (excluding himself) SPLA PMHC members sided with Garang.The mainstream SPLA led by Garang was based inTorit.The two SPLA factions fought each other, including attacks on civilians in their opponents' territory.
As of 1992 the Sudanese government launched a major offensive against the SPLA, which was weakened by the split with theSPLA-Nasir. The SPLA lost control of Torit (where the SPLA was headquartered),Bor,Yirol,Pibor,Pochallaand Kapoeta.
The SPLA made two attacks on Juba in June–July 1992, during which they nearly captured the town. After the attacks, the Sudanese government forces committed harsh reprisals against the civilian population.Summary executionsof suspected SPLA collaborators were carried out.On 27 September, 1992 the deputy commander-in-chief of the SPLA, William Nyuon, defected and took a section of fighters with him.The SPLA recaptured Bor on 29 November, 1991.
As of the mid-1990s, the majority of the population of southern Sudan lived in areas under the control of either the mainstream SPLA or the SPLA-Nasir.
In 2004, a year before theComprehensive Peace Agreement(CPA), theCoalition to Stop Child Soldiers, estimated that there were between 2,500 and 5,000 children serving in the SPLA.
Following the signing of the CPA, an SPLA reorganisation process began. This process was actively supported by funding from theUnited States. In 2005, Garang restructured the top leadership of the SPLA, with a Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen.Oyay Deng Ajak, and four Deputy Chiefs of General Staff: Maj. Gen. Salva Mathok Gengdit (Administration), Maj. Gen. Bior Ajang Aswad (Operations), Maj. Gen.James Hoth Mai(Logistics) and Maj. Gen. Obuto Mamur Mete (Political and Moral Orientation).
The initial organisation of the SPLA, based on divisions, was assembled in mid-2005 but not actually put into practice in the field until 2006. It was based on six divisions (in Upper Nile State;2nd Division: Equatorias;3rd Division: Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Warrap states;4th DivisionUnity State; the5th DivisioninLakes State, the 6th Division, SPLA personnel in theJoint Integrated Units) and four independent brigades.The four independent brigades grouped SPLA forces inBor(Khoriom, 104, and 105 Battalions mainly), Southern Blue Nile, the Nuba Mountains (South Kordofan) and Raja (Western Bahr el Ghazal).
Probably more important than the reorganisation was theJuba Declaration, signed bySalva Kiirand GeneralPaulino Matiepon 8 January 2006. Matiep commanded the South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF), the largest and best-equipped militia (about 50,000 men) that remained beyond the SPLA's control. Paulino was appointed Deputy Commander-in-chief, the second highest position,his subordinate generals became part of the SPLA without any reduction in rank, and about 50,000 SSDF were added to the SPLA payroll.The number of generals in the SPLA also rose as Kiir promoted hundreds of existing SPLA officers to match the arriving ex-SSDF generals. By 2011 and independence, the SPLA had 745 generals. At about the same time, the legislature voted to double infantrymen's base pay from the equivalent of $75 a month (the rate under Khartoum's control) to $150.The unification of the two largest armed groups in the region seriously weakened Khartoum’s control of southern Sudan.
In 2007 and 2008 the independent brigades in Blue Nile, Bor, and the Nuba Mountains became the 10th,8th, and 9th divisions, respectively.The 9th and 10th Divisions thus fell north of the 1-1-56 Independence dividing line between North and South Sudan. The last independent brigade, inRaja, became part of the 5th Division.
In 2007, the SPLM/A established a Ministry of Defence. Gen.Dominic Dim Deng, an SPLA veteran, was chosen as the first Minister for SPLA Affairs and the first political officer of the SPLA. Dim died in a plane crash in 2008 alongside his wife,Josephine Apieu Jenaro Aken, and other SPLA officers. He is buried alongside his wife at the SPLA headquarters in Bilpham, Juba.
Deputy Chief of Staff (Logistics) James Hoth Mai replaced Oyay Deng Ajak as Chief of General Staff in May 2009.
In 2010 U.S. diplomats reported that Samora "made a point to discuss how the SPLA needed to be reorganized. He stated that the SPLA was top heavy, carrying nearly 550 general officers and providing more than 200 security guards for each minister."
The 2005Comprehensive Peace Agreementstipulated that the SPLA in northern Sudan were to move south of the 1956 North-South boundary during the interim period, excepting those part of theJoint Integrated Units, composed of equal numbers from the SPLA and theSudanese Armed Forces.Officially, this move did take place, in 2008, with the 10th Division relocating its headquarters to Guffa, five kilometers south of the Blue Nile-Upper Nile border, and most of its troops to al-Fuj, Yafta and Marinja on the southern side.But more than 1,600 fighters remained north of the line. In early June 2011, following the lack of progress on popular consultations in Southern Kordofan & Blue Nile, the SAF attempted to forcefully disarm Nuba SPLA soldiers, and fighting began in Southern Kordofan.After the fighting began, former SPLA 9th and 10th Division fighters proclaimed themselves theSudan People's Liberation Movement-North(SPLA-N), underMalik Agaras Chairman and Commander-in-Chief.
The Government of Southern Sudan named the SPLA General Headquarters outside Juba 'Bilpam'.The headquarters staff was expanded after 2008 to match the ten-division structure. This expansion coincided with the completion of the General Headquarters at Bilpam, built by DynCorp with funds from theU.S. State Department’s Africa Peacekeeping Program (AFRICAP).
Work on a national security strategy began in late 2012.
On 15 December, 2013, fighting broke out in Juba between different factions of the armed forces in what the South Sudanese government described as acoup d'état. President Kiir announced that the attempt had been put down the next day, but fighting resumed 16 December. Military spokesman Colonel Philip Aguer said that some military installations had been attacked by armed soldiers but that "the army is in full control of Juba." He added that an investigation was under way.
Eventually the Sudan People's Liberation Movement split into two main factions, divided on the issue over leadership of the ruling party:
The coordination of the April–July 2015 attack by the SPLA-IG in Unity State—involving multiple divisions across multiple sectors—indicates a high level of operational planning from Juba.The ferocity with which people were chased into the swamps to be killed was aimed at annihilating the SPLM/A-in-Opposition's support, and led to systematic destruction of villages and towns.
TheTiger Faction New Forces(also called Tiger Faction or 'The Tigers')split from the SPLA in late October 2015. AShillukmilitia, it aimed to reverse thedivision of South Sudan into 28 (later 32) statesin order to restore the territory of theShilluk Kingdomto its 1956 borders.Led by Yoanis Okiech, the TFNF started an insurgency against theSPLMgovernment.In 2016, however, it also came into conflict with theSPLM-IOrebels, leading to Okiech's death and the group's destruction in January 2017.
Over the course of the war, the SPLA has become dominated by Dinka, in particular Dinka from greater Bahr el-Ghazal. The Panel of Experts wrote in 2016, "While other tribes are represented in SPLA, they are increasingly marginalized, rendering the multi-tribal structure of the army largely a façade that obscures the central role that Dinka now play in virtually all major theatres of the conflict". (S/2016/963, 8)
On May 16, 2017, Kiir  announced a restructure of the army and change of name to the South Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF).
A cessation of hostilities agreement was reached in December 2017, but never really took effect.In August 2017, Kiir announced that the new name for the army would be the South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF) "by the need to represent the will of the people". He said that there was a need to reorganise and professionalise the army.According to Professor Joel Isabirye, the change of name would shift the discourse from the era of liberation, which had now concluded, to one of national defence, which is ongoing – with the focus on defending the country against external aggression. The insertion of "People’s" into the name "could be to avoid being dragged back into history when during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005) a militia called South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF) emerged and aligned with the Government of Sudan".
The negotiations stalled over disagreement among the parties about power sharing, future security arrangements and whether Riak Machar could return from exile to political life in South Sudan. In early May 2018, a two-day meeting of the Parties to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) started inAddis Ababa. The parties were to take stock of the progress so far of the R-ARCSS, the pending tasks, and debate the way forward.
The army was officially renamed South Sudan People's Defence Forces in September 2018 by a Republican order read on the state-owned TV channel SSBC known as South Sudan Broadcasting Services ,the national television in South Sudan.The renaming occurred ten days before implementation of new security arrangements, which include the reunification of the national army. President Kiir was also Commander-in-Chief of the army.
As of 2018, the army was estimated to have 185,000 soldiers as well as an unknown number of personnel in the smallSouth Sudan Air Force.
According to the CIAWorld Factbookas of June 2020, "under the September 2018 peace agreement, all armed groups in South Sudan were to assemble at designated sites where fighters could be either disarmed and demobilized, or integrated into unified military and police forces; the unified forces were then to be retrained and deployed prior to the formation of a national unity government; all fighters were ordered to these sites in July 2019, but as of April 2020 this process had not been completed".
As of 2019, the SSPDF comprised the Ground Forces, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, and Presidential Guard with Special attachment of Captain Buoi Rual Makuei, batch 51 Sudan military College Graduate.
In October 2019, more than 40 members of South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) undertook a two-day training organised by theUnited Nations Mission in South Sudan(UNMISS) inKuajok, Gogrial.UNMISS has been in the country since 2011, aiming to consolidate peace and achieve security to allow economic growth and political stability. They were deploying more than 19,000 personnel in the country as of September 2019.
The SPLA was commanded by the Chief of General Staff] (COGS). Deputy Chief of Staff (Logistics) James Hoth Mai replaced Oyay Deng Ajak as Chief of General Staff in May 2009.James Hoth Maiwas superseded byPaul Malong Awanas COGS in 2014.
After the restructure as SSPDF, Malong was superseded byJames Ajongo Mawut(May 2017–April 2018), with the position now referred to as "chief of defence force(s)". On 28 April 2018, Chief of General StaffJames Ajongo Mawutdied in Cairo from a short illness.He was replaced by General Gabriel Jok Riak on 4 May 2018.
On 11 May 2020 President Kiir removed Riak and appointed General Johnson Juma Okot as Chief of Defence Forces, who had been serving as deputy chief.On 11 April 2021, Okot was replaced bySantino Deng Wolas the chief of Defense Forces.
The COGS oversaw five directorates, each led by a Deputy Chief of General Staff (DCOGS):
The SPLA had nine divisions and a small air force, all of which reported to the DCOGS, Operations:
According to a 2015 security agreement with theSudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition, military forces currently stationed in Juba, Bor and Malakal are to be moved to bases at least 25 kilometers outside of each respective city. The Presidential Guard at Giada Barracks and SPLA's General Headquarters in Bilpam are authorized exceptions to the agreement.
As of 2013 the SPLA's land forces operated the following heavy equipment:
As of 2013 theSouth Sudan Air Forceoperated the following aircraft:
According to the 2013 edition of theInternational Institute for Strategic Studies' reportThe Military Balance, South Sudan's defence budgets since 2011 have been as follows: