Timeline South Sudan: The Evolutionary Phases of South Sudan’s Liberation Struggle (part 4)

“Garang, the son of my mother, have you come? Take over the command from here now. Chagai, my work is finished: give me something to drink and celebrate the start of the revolution. Chagai Atem, I said my work is finished here. Let the wise man, Garang of my mother, assumes the responsibility. Chagai, where is your Ak47? Garang will show us how to shoot the enemy.” –Major Kerubino Kuanyin Bol in Bor, May 17, 1983, upon seeing Dr. John Garang joining the National Revolutionary Movement—the SPLM/A[1].

By PaanLuel Wël, Juba, South Sudan.

The first military offensive after the formation of the SPLM/A was at Malual Gaoth[2], Upper Nile, on November 17, 1983. But the then newly minted National Revolutionary Movement was facing two major challenges: securing a sustainable military and logistic supports from international allies and finding a ready supply of new recruits and materials support from within [South] Sudan to sustain and strengthen itself. The first problem was temporarily solved when the Ethiopian Government under President Mengistu Haile Mariam and the Libyan Government under Brother Muammar Gadhafi agreed to supply weapons, ammunitions and military training to the SPLM/A. While the Ethiopian’s Dergue regime under Mengistu was waging a relentless civil war against the Khartoum-armed Eritrean separatist rebels and therefore had every reason to pay back Khartoum in its own currency, Muammar Khadhafi of Libya, on the other hand, had a personal grudge to settle with President Nimieri of Sudan—his former comrade with whom he had bitterly fallen out with. Pledging himself to supporting the SPLM/A, the Ethiopian leader, Mengistu Haile Mariam, declared “we will share with you whatever little Ethiopia can afford.”[3]

The SPLM/A, in a desperate, but a strategic, move to obtain arms and ammunitions from the Libyan government, played little dirty tricks too. “We explained to Al-Gadhafi that ‘central in SPLM/A’s ideology was the Third World Theory expounded in Al-Gadhafi’s Green Book.’ Al-Gadhafi was impressed. Once Al-Gadhafi was satisfied with the SPLM/A’s ideology, logistical support was pledged. The delegation came back to Addis Ababa to break the good news to the Movement’s leadership…the delegation members had studied Al-Gadhafi‘s Green Book on ‘Third World Theory’ and had used many quotations, which impressed the Libyan leader. Subsequently, arms and ammunitions were ferried daily to Bilpam and Bonga training camps. When the Libyan commitment to supply logistics became evidently clear, the SPLM/A adopted a strategy: to graduate one battalion every month and each time the head of the Popular Bureau (Libyan Ambassador) in Addis Ababa was invited to attend the passing out of the new recruits celebration. Each time a battalion was graduating, the Libyan office in Addis Ababa sent large quantities of arms and ammunitions equal in number to the new graduates. What the Libyans did not know or expected to know was that it was actually the same battalion that was graduating every month, just to secure more arms quickly…after a full year of this game, the SPLM/A had stockpiled enough to recruits and train a whole division to start a military campaigns,” explained Lual Diing Wuol, the then SPLM/A’s representative to Tripoli, Libya[4].

The Socialist Blocks headed by the former USSR, however, refused to support the SPLM/A since none of its top leadership was recognized as a true communist by the Soviet Union. It was only junior officers such as Chol Deng Alaak, Amon Wantok and Prof. Barry Wanji that could have been described as communists. But that still was stretching the point since not everyone who had then lived in the West could have been paraded as a liberal democrat. Indeed, for the Socialist Blocks, the SPLM/A was only a Socialist Movement on paper! For the second dilemma—finding a ready supply of new recruits and materials support from within [South] Sudan to sustain and strengthen itself—the SPLM/A launched mobilization and recruitment campaigns by sending out well-known and respected officers to sensitize, to mobilize and to recruit civilians from their home areas. To achieve that feat, the SPLM/A dispatched Chagai Atem, Awet Akot, Kawac Makwei, Deng Alor Kuol, Pagan Amum, and Victor Bol Yol among others to Bor, Yirol, Abyei, Rumbek, Tonj, Aweil, Gogrial etc. With the sterling successes of the mobilization and recruitment exercises, at least amongst the Dinka and the Nuer communities, the SPLM/A started turning clueless and ideologically-poor peasants into a highly-indoctrinated professional army equipped to wage an effective revolutionary war.

Between 1983 and 1987, the SPLM/A trained and deployed five[5] divisions alone—Koryom, Mour-Mour, Kazuk and Zal-Zal. In 1983, for example, the SPLM/A trained and launched Battalions 104 and 105 under William Nyuon Bany and Jamus under Kerubino Kuanyin Bol. This was later followed with the deployment of Tiger under Salva Kiir and Timsah under Arok Thon Arok in 1984. With enough soldiers under its military wing, the SPLM/A launched military campaigns against the Nimeiri government.  The two battallions of Tiger led by Salva Kiir and Timsah led by Arok Thon launched coordinated attacks and captured Pochalla and Pibor before proceeding to Bentiu to liberate the oilfields. The real guerrilla war, however, started with the graduation of Koryom Division in 1984-1985. Koryom was made up of many battalions. The Southern Axis comprising of Zindia, Cobra and Raad battalions was under the command of Arok Thon Arok, deputized by Bona Bang, Benjamin Nyankot, Gatwec Dual, Peter Panhom Thanypiny and Benjamin Makur. The Southern Axis was sent to “Southern Upper Nile and areas adjacent to Equatoria”[6] where they wiped out two companies of government soldiers at Gemeiza and fought fierce battles at Lokiliri near Torit. The Southern Axis also destroyed an entire government battalion at Owiny-Kibul and unsuccessfully attacked Terekeka, just 50 miles from Juba.

The Second Axis of Koryom Division, the Central Command, was composed of Bilpam, Lion, Elephant, and Hippo Battalions under the direct command of the SPLM/A chairman, Dr. John Garang. He was assisted by Kerubino Kuanyin Bol, Kuol Manyang Juuk, James Jok Muon, Daniel Deng Alony, Afred Akuoch, John Lem, Francis Tago, Deng Alor Kuol, and Chol Deng Alaak. The Central Command attacked and captured Jekou Garrison on March 3, 1985, after deadly protracted battles in which the SPLM/A lost many combatants under Kerubino Kuanyin. The third section of Koryom Division, the Northern Axis, was under Lt. Colonel Francis Ngor. It was sent to Southern Blue Nile region where it attacked and captured Dago, Padigli and Maban. The fourth section of Koryom Division, the Eastern Axis, was composed of Agreb Battalion under the command of Commander Nyachigak Ng’achiluk, deputized by Joseph Kuol Amuom. The Eastern Axis captured the town of Boma.

Unfortunately, Commander Nyachigak—a young promising SPLM/A’s Major from the Murle tribe—was martyred in Riwoto near Kapoeta when government troops, with the help of Toposa Militias, stormed SPLM/A positions. Nyachigak Ng’achiluk was the first high-ranking SPLM/A commander to die in action besides Lt. Colonel Francis Ng’or. Lt. Colonel Martin Manyiel Ayuel took over the command after Nyachigak was killed. Finally, the fifth section of Koryom Division was the Rhino Battalion under the command of Lt. Colonel Martin Makur Aleiyou and Pagan Amum. It was sent to Bahr el Ghazal where it attacked and overran the towns of Yirol, Aluakluak and Tonj. It also disrupted the transport system in the entire province and succeeded to isolate and besieged Wau and Rumbek towns. Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, Dr. Marial Benjamin and John Luke Jok, based in London, took up the propaganda war on the international stage. Whereas the Khartoum government had previously dismissed Anyanya Two Forces as “a mere marauding band of bandits without any political motives,”[7] the SPLM/A presented them with unprecedented sophistications and unparalleled bravery in the battlefields that prompted Nimeiri to declare a Jihad against the SPLM/A.

The Anti-SPLM/A and Anti-Dinka Hate Campaigns

But it was not only government troops that the SPLM/A was confronting: it had to deal with some sections of the Southern populace that were mobilized and incited against the SPLM/A in general and Dinka in particular. Khartoum flaunted SPLM/A in the eyes of Southerners as a Dinka’s Movement, founded to oppress and to dominate other tribes in the South. With Kokora ubiquitous in Equatoria region, it was very easy for the government to incite the uninformed locals to fight the “Dinka SPLM/A” formed to take away their benefits secured under Kokora system—the controversial redivision of the South into three major states by President Nimieri that was highly popular within Equatoria region, but was resentfully rejected in Upper Nile and Bahr el Ghazal regions. Thus, numerous tribal militias sprung up among the Mundari, Murle, Zande, Madi, Fertit, Toposa, Acholi, the Anyanya Two and the Misseriya/Murahalin Arabs.

The SPLM/A that was formed to fight the government of the Sudan soon found itself fighting on two fronts: the enemy from within and the enemy from without. So rampant was the anti-Dinka fervor that a new language was coined. For example, a German beer level DAB was taken as “Dinka Are Bad” and the label of J.B Whisky was understood to stand for “Jienge Bor” while the slogan of “the Dinka are Born to Rule” became some sort of a national anthem in some quarters of Southern Sudan. The Dinkas were puzzled for it was Equatorians that led both the historic 1955 Torit Mutiny and the highly successful Anyanya One Movement. Feeling under sieged and with herd mentality activated, the Dinka people, “sensing that it was a matter of life or death, left the country en masse to join the SPLM/A.”[8] This explains why most revolutionary songs are in Dinka language and why many among the top cadres were from Dinka.

In reality, when the SPLM/A was formed, the Nuer were the first to join en masse. Dr. John Garang assumed the leadership of the Movement with the support of the Nuer soldiers. The SPLM/A’s recruitment process among the Nuer was, however, greatly undermined by the war between the SPLM/A and the Anyanya Two Forces who were predominantly Nuer. Still, the Nuer were wholeheartedly participating in the SPLM/A, both among the infantries as well as within the top leadership. To counter the anti-Dinka and anti-SPLM/A sentiment in Equatoria where the Movement was initially generally perceived as a Dinka army formed to fight and reverse Kokora system, the SPLM/A started addressing the underrepresentation of the Equatorians within the highest echelon of the Movement—only the highly respected, elderly Joseph Oduho was an Equatorian among the founders of the SPLM/A. The SPLM/A also revised some of its derogatory and punitive policies meted on the local people in Equatoria region that largely fed into the Khartoum’s tactics of divide-and-rule policies. Between late 1983 and earlier 1984, young leaders like Wani Igga and Afred Lado Gore had joined the Movement. Moreover, Wani Igga and Galerio Modi Horinyang, two of whom hailed from the Equatoria region, were promoted as Alternate Members of the SPLM Politico-Military High Command.

March 1987—SPLM/A Military Campaigns

With Equatoria region appeased, the SPLM/A reorganized and launched new military command units. Galerio Modi took over the Eastern Equatoria command from Martin Manyiel Ayuel. Gaol/Wolf Battallion under the command of Dr. Riek Machar was deployed and sent to the oilfields of Bentiu—his hometown. With his headquarters in Leer, Commander Dr. Riek Machar soon brought all the oilfields under SPLM/A control. Confronting Dr. Riek Machar forces were government troops commanded by none other than the current president of the Sudan—Omar El Bashir. He was wounded in the battle when Dr. Riek Machar forces captured the town from him. Moreover, the Mosquito Battalion under the leadership of Yousif Kuwa Mekki was sent to Nuba Mountains where they successfully established military bases. Tuek-Tuek Battalion under Awet Akot; Abu-Shok Battalion under Major Daniel Deng Alony; Zaalan Battalion under Bona Bang Dhal, and Rhino Battalion under Martin Makur Aleiyou were graduated and deployed in Bahr El Ghazal and around Malakal. In 1987, the Eagle Battalion under the command of Kerubino Kuanyin besieged and captured Kurmuk town, technically placing the Southern Blue Nile region under SPLM/A control.

The SPLM/A’s leadership, in March 1987, convened a meeting in which it was agreed that new five Military Axes were to be created. It was also decided that new independent military commands in War Zones I (Southern Sudan) and II (Northern Sudan), plus Twelve Alternate Members of the High Command, were to be created. Consequently, in addition to the Five Permanent Members of the SPLM/A Politico-Military High Command—Dr. John Garang (Chairperson), Kerubino kuanyin Bol (Deputy Chairperson), William Nyuon Bany (Chief of General Staff), Salva Kiir (Security and Operations), and Arok Thon Arok (Logistics and Administration)—the SPLM/A created 12 Alternate Members of the High Command—James Wani Igga, Martin Manyiel Ayuel, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, Yousif Kuwo Mekki, Daniel Awet Akot, Kuol Manyang Juuk, Galerio Modi Horinyang, John Kulang Puot, Gordon Kong Chol, Lual Diing Wol, and Vincent Kuany respectively.

The Five Permanent Members of the Politico-Military High Command commanded the five new Military Axes. Dr. John Garang commanded Military Axis Number I, with the assistance of Alternate Commanders Martin Manyiel Ayuel, Kuol Manyang Juuk, and Lual Diing Wuol. It was assigned to Kapoeta, Torit, Bor, Juba and some parts of Western Equatoria. Kerubino Kuanyin Bol commanded Military Axis Number II, with the help of Alternate Commanders John Kulang Puot and Galerio Modi. It was dispatched to Southern Blue Nile to towns such as Kurmuk, Geissana and Damazin areas where hydroelectric power was being produced at Roseiris Dam. Military Axis Number III was headed by William Nyuon Bany Machar, with the assistance of Alternate Commanders Dr. Lam Akol and Gordon Koang Chol. It was given Northern and Eastern Upper Nile, especially the towns of Nasir, Maban, Melut, Renk, Kodok and Malakal. Military Axis Number IV was led by Salva Kiir Mayardit and was assigned to cover Southern Upper Nile region, particularly Pochalla, Pibor and some part of Bor. Finally; Arok Thon Arok was tasked with Military Axis Number V that was assigned to target Ayod, Waat, Akobo and Panjak in Upper Nile region.

Furthermore, the SPLM/A established five Independent Military Commands. These were (1) The Bentiu Independent Military Area under Zonal Commander Dr. Riek Machar who was to protect the oilfields by securing Bentiu, Mayom and Panrieng towns;  (2) The Bahr el Ghazal Independent Military Area under Zonal Commander Awet Akot, with the assistance of Commanders Deng Ajuong, Chol Ayuak Guiny and Bona Bang Dhol, that was to protect the civil populations from constant Murhaleen incursions, by capturing and securing the towns of Yirol, Rumbek, Tonj, Gogrial, Wau, Aweil, Raga and Abyei; (3) The Nuba Mountains Independent Military Area under Zonal Commander Yousif Kuwo Mekki, with the help of commander Abdel Aziz Adam elHellu, that was tasked with protecting the Nuba Mountains people from frequent harassment from the government and Arab militias, to recruit Nuba people to join the SPLM/A and to take the Revolutionary War to the doorstep of Khartoum ruling clique;  (4) The Darfur Independent Military Area under Zonal Commander Daud Bolad, assigned to take the Revolutionary War to Western Sudan, to mobilize and recruit the Darfur people into the SPLM/A and, like in the Nuba Mountains region, to unambiguously demonstrate that the SPLM/A was a national liberation army, not just a Southern-based separatist movement pre-occupied with the so-called ‘Southern Problem’; and lastly (5) The Red Sea (Hadendowa) Independent Military Area under Zonal Commander Mahmoud Bazarra, that was entrusted to take the war to the Red Sea Coastal Areas, to sensitize and recruit the locals and also to prove to the Khartoum ruling elites that the SPLM/A was a powerful force to reckon with, one that is unlike anything they had dealt with before.

The presence of the SPLM/A military posts in the Nuba Mountains, Darfur, Southern Blue Nile and the Red Sea Coastal Region was an SPLM/A psychological strategy of taking the war to the North (War Zone II) instead of waging it just in the South (War Zone I) as it had been the case with both Anyanya One and Anyanya Two Revolutionary Movements.  But the biggest military campaign ever envisaged and undertaken by the SPLM/A, one that was meant to break the backbone of Khartoum’s military defensive and free the entire war zone one—Southern Sudan, was the Bright Star Military Campaigns designed to encircle and to capture Juba—one of the few remaining major garrison towns by then in Southern Sudan. For that, check out the forthcoming Part 5 of these serializations of the evolutionary phases of the South Sudanese’ liberation struggle.

Supplementary Note

1. SPLM/A’S FOUNDING FATHERS

The Five Permanent Members of the SPLM/A’s Politico-Military High Command (The SPLM/A’s PMHC)

The 12 Alternate Members Of The SPLM/A’s Politico-Military High Command

2. SPLM/A’S DIVISIONS & BATTALIONS[9]

DIVISION ONE (Founding Battalions)

DIVISION TWO (KORYOM)

DIVISION THREE (MOUR-MOUR)

DIVISION FOUR (KAZUK)

DIVISION FIVE (ZAL-ZAL I & II)

DIVISION SIX (INFIJAR)

DIVISION SEVEN (INTIFADHA)

DIVISION EIGHT (INTISAR)—retraining of the founding battalions