Mayank Bubna's blog

JUBA, South Sudan -- As I walked into Bentiu’s state hospital last week, I expected it to be overcrowded with wounded civilians who had fled the most recent onslaught between the SPLA and Peter Gadet’s forces in Mankien. But I could not find one such person. Instead it was bustling with soldiers getting their battle-scars dressed. “No person without an SPLA uniform is allowed to escape Mayom,” said one man, referring to a western county in Sudan’s Unity state where militia fighting has been rampant.  “There are no civilians in Mayom, only rebels.”  Read More »

With less than 70 days left until southerners hoist a new national flag, the optimism in South Sudan of heralding a new beginning has been beset with the perennial problem of armed non-state actors. In Unity state, dealing with the cyclical violence since the April elections last year has become particularly foreboding for the southern government.  Read More »

As troops from both the SAF and SPLA continue to swell in the Abyei region, U.N. peacekeepers there face perhaps their toughest test yet to try and contain a potential North-South war. Judging from internal U.N. reports and recent interviews on the ground, inaction in Abyei has cost the U.N. peacekeepers precious credibility with the local population that once lost will be very difficult to regain.  Read More »

In writings on Abyei, there is often the assumption that the Misseriya and Dinka Ngok groups who have a stake in the region speak as one, or are spoken for by the handful of Misseriya and Dinka political “leaders” that are quoted in the media. In reality, there are gaps between the thinking of government representatives in the two capitals and their “loyalists” on the ground.  Read More »

Testimony collected through interviews conducted by Enough among displaced Ngok Dinka communities in the region illustrate the human impact of the ongoing stalemate over Abyei. The interviews also demonstrate pervasiveness of the perception among Ngok Dinka that SAF forces and allied militias, acting on orders of the northern government, are intent on eliminating them – if not by killing them, then by forcing them off the land for good. These fears reveal just how far trust has deteriorated in Abyei, raising the likelihood of continued conflict.  Read More »

In the aftermath of recent flare-ups in Upper Nile between South Sudan’s army and southern militias, the southern government has quickly blamed its northern counterparts for the ongoing instability. And while northern complicity should be investigated, the strategy of the southern army vis à vis militias is also worth a look.

The SPLA has decided to take on a more pre-emptive role rather than being on the defensive, as they were in recent months when they worked to entice splinter factions to come into the fold ahead of the referendum.  Read More »

Upper Nile police and SPLA forces clashed with militia men led by Commander Olony in the state capital of Malakal over the weekend. As the conflict theater expands and becomes increasing inaccessible to the United Nations and humanitarian organizations, details about culpability and the impact on civilians are difficult to ascertain.  Read More »

Time will tell, but it is hard to be optimistic that the recent apparent goodwill on the part of the negotiating parties is as forthright as it seems. The range of agendas found within the Misseriya and Dinka communities themselves further complicates implementation of the agreement.  Read More »

It’s easy to see the South’s expected vote for separation as a wholesale rejection of the North. But in day-to-day life in southern Sudan’s Unity state capital, northerners and southerners work alongside each other and share common values and mutual respect.  Read More »

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was Juba yesterday, delivering a conciliatory message to southerners who turned out in droves to bid him, as one spectator put it, "his last farwell."  Read More »