By Parach Mach
JUBA, South Sudan (AA) - Opposition forces said on Tuesday they were being integrated into South Sudan's national army as part of the August 2015 peace process.
Army spokesman Col. Dickson Gatluak, loyal to First Vice President Taban Deng Gai said in a statement that the re-integration process into the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) had started in the country's northern Liech state.
He said eight generals from the Sudan People's Liberation Army In Opposition (SPLA-IO), along with their infantry forces, would soon be taking part in a military parade after being re-integrated.
“The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) under the leadership of Gen.Taban Deng Gai, we mark this [first phase] as an important milestone in the country's army,” he said.
It is not clear how many forces would integrate and join the ranks of President Salva Kiir’s army given the split in the rebel movement.
Some opposition fighters continue to fight the government under the command of former Vice President Riek Machar.
Taban Deng Gai’s splinter group said in September that it boasted over 7,000 troops in the oil-rich Upper Nile state where much of the civil war has been fought.
- Surge in violence in Juba
Current South Sudanese Vice President Taban Deng Gai succeeded Riek Machar, following a surge in violence in the capital, Juba in July 2016.
Machar and commanders loyal to him fled the capital to the countryside and into the Democratic Republic of Congo.
During his absence, President Kiir appointed Taban Deng Gai as vice president, thus creating rifts within opposition ranks, which have undermined the peace process.
South Sudan has been mired in conflict between the government of President Salva Kiir and rebels led by Machar since December 2013.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced almost 4 million people from their homes, including over a million refugees who have fled to the neighboring countries.
International and regional leaders have called for an end to the conflict in the East African nation but several truces have been broken by both sides.