Yuai is the capital of

Uror County Uror is a county in Jonglei State, South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Centra ...

Bieh State Bieh State (previously named Eastern Bieh State) was a state in South Sudan that existed between 2 October 2015 and 22 February 2020. It was located in the Greater Upper Nile region and it bordered Fangak State, Fangak to the west, Central Upper N ...

in the

Greater Upper Nile The Greater Upper Nile is a region of northeastern South Sudan. It is named for the White Nile, a tributary of the Nile River in North and East Africa. History The Greater Upper Nile region seceded from the Republic of Sudan on 9 July 2011 al ...

region of

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

. It is the most populous place in

. It has historically been associated with the

Nuer White Army The Nuer White Army, sometimes decapitalised as the "white army", is a semi-official name for a militant organisation formed by the Nuer people of central and eastern Greater Upper Nile in modern-day South Sudan as early as 1991. According to the ...

History

Yuai was a garrison of the

SPLA-Nasir The SPLA-Nasir was a splinter faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel group that fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War. Originally created as an attempt by the Nuer people, Nuer tribe to replace SPLA leader John Garang in ...

during the

Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originate ...

. It was attacked by the SPLA in 1993. Yuai was one of the Lou

Nuer Nuer may refer to: * Nuer people * Nuer language The Nuer language (Thok Naath) ("people's language") is a Nilotic language of the Western Nilotic group. It is spoken by the Nuer people of South Sudan and in western Ethiopia (region of Gamb ...

areas where fighting occurred during the forced

disarmament of the Lou Nuer The disarmament of the Lou Nuer was a forcible disarmament campaign undertaken by the SPLA in Southern Sudan in December 2005. While other groups had been peacefully disarmed, the Lou section of the Nuer in Northern Jonglei State refused to compl ...

in 2006. A conference was held in Yuai from February 27 to March 7 to convince the Lou Nuer to disarm, but it was unsuccessful. After the outbreak of 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. ...

, Yuai quickly came under the control of the SPLA-IO. On December 20, 2013, two

UNMISS The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission for South Sudan, which became independent on 9 July 2011. UNMISS was established on 8 July 2011 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1996 (2011 ...

helicopters were fired on by anti-government forces when evacuating military personnel and

internally displaced persons An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. ...

in Yuai. One of the helicopters was damaged. The deteriorating security caused the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

to relocate its personnel from Yuai. By August 2014, there were 14,000

in the Yuai area. In August 2016,

SPLM-IO The Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (abbreviated SPLM-IO), also known as the anti-governmental forces (AGF), is a mainly South Sudanese political party and rebel group that split from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in 20 ...

officials detained a charted

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

chartered plane when it landed in Yuai. In February 2017, Yuai, which had been peaceful throughout the

, began experiencing clashes. The SPLA took Yuai without heavy fighting on February 15, 2017, but the SPLA-IO launched unsuccessful an attack to retake the town the next morning. The SPLA-IO attacked Yuai on March 12, 2017 but was repulsed. The SPLA-IO claimed to have killed 93 and destroyed a

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

and two other military vehicles while losing 5 killed and 9 wounded in the attack, while the SPLA claimed they killed 23 and injured 50 without any losses. There was fighting between the SPLA and SPLA-IO around Yuai from April 12–13, 2017.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. M ...

reported in June 2017 that 27,000 people had fled Yuai and

Waat Waat is a village in the northeastern part of South Sudan. It is located in Nyirol County, Jonglei State Jonglei State is a state of South Sudan with Bor as its centre of government and the biggest city. Jonglei state comprises nine counties ...

since February of that year. Yuai was part of

Jonglei State Jonglei State is a state of South Sudan with Bor as its centre of government and the biggest city. Jonglei state comprises nine counties: Bor, Akobo, Ayod, Uror, Duk, Nyirol, Pigi, Twic East, and Fangak. Jonglei State is the largest sta ...

until the reorganization of states in 2015, in which Yuai became part of Eastern Bieh State. Eastern Bieh State was later renamed

Demographics

Yuai is inhabited by the Lou

and has been a stronghold of the

References

Populated places in South Sudan {{SouthSudan-geo-stub