S.Sudan Deploys First Unified Forces After Peace Deal

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan. (Reuters)
President Salva Kiir of South Sudan. (Reuters)
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S.Sudan Deploys First Unified Forces After Peace Deal

President Salva Kiir of South Sudan. (Reuters)
President Salva Kiir of South Sudan. (Reuters)

Hundreds of former rebels and government troops in South Sudan's unified forces were deployed at a long-overdue ceremony on Wednesday, marking progress for the country's lumbering peace process.

The world's newest nation has struggled to find its footing since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, battling violence, endemic poverty and natural disasters.

The unification of forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, was a key condition of the 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year conflict in which nearly 400,000 people died, according to AFP.

Tens of thousands of former fighters were integrated into the country's army in August last year but none have been deployed until now, with the delays fuelling frustration in the international community.

The first battalion comprising nearly 1,000 soldiers will be deployed to Malakal in northern Upper Nile State, which has received huge numbers of South Sudanese refugees fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.

At the ceremony on the outskirts of the capital Juba, Santino Wol, the country's chief of defence forces, urged the battalion to remain united, saying: "Be a soldier and don't get involved in politics."

The unity government led by Kiir and Machar has largely failed to meet key provisions of the peace agreement, including drafting a constitution and electoral legislation ahead of polls now set for next year.

Kiir has vowed to hold the country's first ever presidential ballot by December 2024, but UN envoy Nicholas Haysom warned in August that the authorities needed to create a conducive environment to ensure "peaceful, inclusive and credible elections".

"We are going for elections and you are to make sure that peace prevails so that elections can proceed peacefully," Information Minister Michael Makuei told the soldiers on Wednesday.

One of the poorest countries on the planet despite large oil reserves, South Sudan has spent almost half of its life as a nation at war and continues to be roiled by outbreaks of politically motivated ethnic violence.



Man Killed in Rocket Attack on Israel’s Nahariya

People stand near a hole at the impact site, after Israel's medical services said a man was killed, when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
People stand near a hole at the impact site, after Israel's medical services said a man was killed, when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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Man Killed in Rocket Attack on Israel’s Nahariya

People stand near a hole at the impact site, after Israel's medical services said a man was killed, when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
People stand near a hole at the impact site, after Israel's medical services said a man was killed, when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A 30-year-old man was killed by rocket shrapnel next to a playground in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya on Thursday, Israel's MDA medical service said.
The Israeli military said about 10 rockets had been launched from Lebanon towards Nahariya. "Most of the projectiles were intercepted and fallen projectiles were identified," the army said in a statement.
Channel 12 said three rockets hit the coastal town.
Air sirens went off in a number of locations across northern Israel during the morning, but it was not immediately clear how many missiles had been launched from Lebanon.
"The Israeli government is not safeguarding my security, my residents or the residents of the north (of Israel). It is not possible to live in such a situation like this," Nahariya Mayor Ronen Marelly told public broadcaster Kan.
"We are being attacked (by Hezbollah) in a massive way with great force," he said.
The Israeli military has inflicted huge devastation in Lebanon since it went on the offensive against Hezbollah in September, mounting airstrikes across wide parts of the country and sending in troops.

The Israeli military said Wednesday three soldiers, including a 70-year-old, were killed in south Lebanon.

The army announced two soldiers were killed in the same incident including 70-year-old reservist Ze'ev 'Jabo' Hanoch Erlich, after it had said earlier Wednesday that a 22-year-old soldier from Jerusalem "fell during combat in southern Lebanon”

The deaths bring to 52 the army's losses in Lebanon since the start of ground operations.

Another soldier was heavily injured during the same incident that killed the two soldiers including Erlich, the military said, adding he had been taken to hospital.