{{Fighting is likely to continue in South Sudan without the deployment of an east African regional force to pressure both sides to respect a ceasefire, Uganda’s army chief said Tuesday.}}
Uganda already has troops in South Sudan fighting alongside government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir against rebel leader Riek Machar, but the country’s army chief said a larger regional force was needed to halt the five-month-old civil war.
“Is the ceasefire holding? It would need an IGAD intervention force to be in place,” General Katumba Wamala told a briefing at the army headquarters.
“If IGAD forces are not deployed to compel the two parties to respect the ceasefire, there is a possibility of the clashes happening again,” he added.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a regional bloc that has been brokering peace talks between South Sudan’s government and rebels, but two ceasefire deals — one signed in January and the other earlier this month — were quickly violated.
IGAD leaders have called for the deployment of a force to protect ceasefire monitors, but no date has yet been set for putting such a force in place.
General Wamala said that when an IGAD force is deployed and “there is no vacuum, we shall pull back to our borders” — but did not rule out taking part in an IGAD mission.
South Sudan’s government has been at war with rebel groups since December 15, when a clash between troops loyal to President Kiir and those loyal to Machar, who was sacked as vice president, escalated into full-scale fighting.
NV
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