South Sudan Integrates Opposition to Unified Army

FILE PHOTO: South Sudan's President Salva Kiir attends a meeting on the cutting of the number of states from 32 to 10, at the State House in Juba, South Sudan February 15, 2020. REUTERS/Jok Solomun

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan has established a unified armed forces command structure that includes opposition commanders.

It comes after President Kiir and opposition factions reached an agreement last week to share critical roles in the army and security forces.

The president’s faction controls 60 percent of the command structure, while the opposition controls the remaining 40%.

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The agreement was reached through the mediation of Sudan, which is the current chair of the IGAD regional bloc.

On Tuesday night, the national broadcaster unveiled the names of the generals who will lead the unified command.

Following five years of civil war, a peace accord agreed in September 2018 included a unified military forces leadership as a major pillar.

The formation of the unified command will be followed by the graduation and deployment of troops and police officers who have completed their training.

According to the agreement made last week, this should not take more than two months.

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