The South Sudan United Front/Army (SS-UF/A), often just called South Sudan United Front (SS-UF), is a South Sudanese rebel group which has taken part in the

South Sudanese Civil War The South Sudanese Civil War was a multi-sided civil war in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and ten others of attempting a coup d'état. ...

History

Background

The

erupted in 2013 as a result of disputes between President

Salva Kiir Mayardit Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951), also known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who has been the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the President of the Governmen ...

and Vice President Riek Machar. The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the country's military, consequently fractured into pro-Kiir loyalists and pro-Machar forces; the latter formed the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition. Attempts to end the civil war peacefully repeatedly failed. In mid-2017, political struggles within the government resulted in Kiir deposing SPLA chief of staff

Paul Malong Awan Paul Malong Awan (born 1962), also known as Paul Malong Awan Anei, King Paul, and General Paul, is a South Sudanese politician and military figure. Until 16 May 2017 he was the Chief of General Staffs (COGS) of the Sudan People’s Liberation Ar ...

and putting him under house arrest. Malong was characterized as powerful

Dinka The Dinka people ( din, Jiɛ̈ɛ̈ŋ) are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan with a sizable diaspora population abroad. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Jonglei to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out ...

nationalist. Some followers of Malong in the SPLA rebelled after his arrest.

Operations

Malong was released from his house arrest in November 2017 so that he could travel to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

for medical reasons. In January 2018, one of Malong's former followers, Chan Garang Lual, organized a raid into Juba. On 9 April 2018, Malong officially rebelled and announced the SS-UF would be his new organisation to challenge President Kiir. Malong accused Kiir of turning the nation into a failed state after looting the country's resources, and claimed that the SS-UF would fight for a new government system which supported federalism. The group also announced that it would become part of the

South Sudan Opposition Alliance The South Sudan Opposition Alliance is a coalition of political parties and armed groups in South Sudan that opposed the government of President Salva Kiir. It was formed in February 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by nine groups. In September th ...

, a coalition of South Sudanese opposition factions. Several SPLA commanders and soldiers who had formerly been loyal to Malong, including those who had become part of the SPLM-IO in the meantime, joined his new force. In August 2018, much of the SS-UF's Equatorian force surrendered to the government. About 300 fighters, led by Ajang Ajang Lino (SS-UF political leader), Chan Garang Lual (SS-UF chief of staff), and Garang Garang (SS-UF secretary general), agreed to an amnesty deal signed in Uganda. They consequently rejoined the SPLA. The SPLM-IO and the government eventually agreed to a peace deal, but other rebel groups like the SS-UF were not included. In August 2019, the SS-UF and two other factions, namely Thomas Cirillo's South Sudan National Democratic Alliance (SSNDA) and

Pagan Amum Pa'gan Amum Okiech (born 3 January 1959) is a South Sudanese politician. He is the co-founder of South Sudan Reborn, a political organisation that attempts to bring peace to South Sudan and is the primary spokesperson. He is also the head of the ...

's Real Sudan People's Liberation Movement (R-SPLM) resolved to unite their activities under the " United South Sudanese Opposition Movements" (SSOMA) umbrella organization.

References

{{South Sudanese political parties 2018 establishments in Africa Factions of the South Sudanese Civil War Political parties established in 2018 Political parties in South Sudan Rebel groups in South Sudan