March 5, 2025
On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, a South Sudanese militia overran the military barracks of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and took control of the strategic town of Nasir in Upper Nile State near the border of Ethiopia after intense fighting began on Monday.
The White Army is a militia composed mainly of youths of the Nuer ethnic group known for ethnic violence and opposition to government forces.
As reported by Radio Tamazuj, White Army leader Ter Chuol Gatkuoth said the White Army ran the government troops out of town, claiming, “Those killed from the side of the White Army are more than 21 killed. However, I have no precise information on the number of soldiers killed on the SSPDF.”
The SSPDF spokesperson General Lul Ruai Koang said the army was “not in a position to provide a media briefing on the security situation in Nasir and the surrounding areas.”
Meanwhile, the SSPDF commander in Nasir General Majur Manyok, local officials, and White Army leaders agreed to allow the UN to medevac 40 SSPDF soldiers from Nasir to Malakal to the South Sudanese capital Juba.
Relations between the White Army and the SSPDF in Nasir came to head when the government announced that the forces in Nasir would be replaced by new ones, causing the White Army to fear that they would target civilians or take away their weapons.
In response to the firefight in Nasir, the South Sudanese government arrested several senior officials allied with South Sudanese First Vice President Riek Machar on Wednesday, including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol and the deputy head of the army Gabriel Doup Lam.
The White Army fought alongside Machar’s rebels against President Salva Kiir and his predominantly ethnic Dinka troops during the civil war between 2013 and 2018, three years after South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan.
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