December 16th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s defense minister Kuol Manyang Juuk was among other South Sudanese officials who were involved in efforts to train a tribal militia to renew violence upon Machar’s return to Juba following the signing of a peace agreement last, the United States said in a statement on Monday.
The US on Monday imposed sanctions on Kuol and the country’s cabinet minister Elia Martin Lomoro who for his part was accused by the US of involvement in actions aimed at derailing peace efforts in the world’s youngest nation.
The world power said the defense minister was “being designated for being responsible for or complicit in or having engaged in, directly or indirectly, actions or policies that have the purpose or effect of expanding or extending the conflict in South Sudan or obstructing reconciliation or peace talks or processes.”
In September 2018, South Sudan government and opposition groups signed the revitalized peace agreement to end the six-year-old civil war. The US said Kuol then decided to mobilize and train a tribal militia in preparing for renewal of violence following the return of SPLM-IO chairman Dr. Riek Machar Teny.
“As of late 2018, Juuk and other senior South Sudanese government officials were overseeing an effort to train tribal militias to prepare for the possibility of renewed violence upon the return of Machar to South Sudan,” the US said.
