General information
Part of Conflict: South Sudan: Government
Date of first stated goals of incompatibility: 2017-03-06
Comment on date of first stated goal of incompatibility: Lieutenant General Thomas Cirillo Swaka left the South Sudanese army, and his position as Deputy Chief of Staff, in February 2017, accusing the government of "ethnic cleansing" in the ongoing intrastate conflict.
A month later, on 6 March 2017, Cirillo declared the formation of his movement called the National Salvation Front (NAS), blaming President Salva Kiir of the mismanagement of the country's resources, abuses carried out by the national army, ethnic hegemony, and corruption. The declaration stated that the group had no other choice than to fight the government "using all means that are available, feasible and effective", adding that "Kiir must go".
Date of first use of armed force: 2018-11-01
Comment on date of first use of armed force: Reports of clashes between government forces and NAS in the Greater Equatoria region of South Sudan emerged by the end of November 2018. However, the situation in the region at the time was complex, and NAS had been involved in fighting with another non-state group in the same area, called SPLM/A - IO, on several occasions during the fall of 2018.
The first confirmed use of armed force between NAS and the Government of South Sudan, where more details were reported, took place on 7 December 2018 when NAS attacked and destroyed a bridge at Tore along the Yei-Maridi road in the Greater Equatoria region.
First Battle Related Death: 2018-12-16
Comment on First Battle Related Death: The first recorded battle-related deaths in the fighting between the Government of South Sudan and NAS took place during two clashes on 16 December 2018 in Central Equatoria state in the southern part of South Sudan.
Date when dyad reached 25 battle releated deaths: 2019-01-03
Comment on date when dyad reached 25 battle related deaths: Fighting between the Government of South Sudan and NAS escalated in early January 2019. After two days of clashes in Juba county in Central Equatoria state, especially around a gold-mining site in the area, the fighting resulted in more than 30 deaths, hence reaching the UCDP criteria for inclusion as an active dyad.
Conflict issues
Annual information
This section contains annual information systematically collected by the UCDP.
2017
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 0 |
| Best | 0 |
| Low | 0 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of South Sudan): n/a
Side B (NAS): n/a
2018
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 17 |
| Best | 17 |
| Low | 17 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of South Sudan): n/a
Side B (NAS): n/a
2019
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 188 |
| Best | 110 |
| Low | 102 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of South Sudan): n/a
Side B (NAS): n/a
2020
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 135 |
| Best | 58 |
| Low | 49 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of South Sudan): n/a
Side B (NAS): n/a
Peace agreements
Name of peace agreement: Rome Declaration on the Peace Process in South Sudan
Date when warring parties signed the agreement: 2020-01-12
Comment of peace agreement: Peace process agreement
Under the agreement the parties reaffirmed their will to foster political dialogue in order to facilitate further reconciliation and stabilization by addressing the root causes of the conflict in South Sudan. the groups committed themselves to a ceasefire in the Cessession of Hostilities Agreement of December 2017 and continuing dialogue under the auspices of the Community of Sant'Egidio and regional organisations.
Signatories: For the Government of the Republic South Sudan
Barnaba Marial Benjamin - Presidential Advisor and Envoy - Head of Government Delegation
For SSOMA
Thomas Cirillo Swaka, Member of the leadership Council of SSOMA and Chairman of National Salvation Front
Paul Malong Awan Anei, Member of the leadership Council of SSOMA and Chairman of South Sudan United Front/Army
Pa'gan Amum Okiech, Member of the leadership Council of SSOMA and Interim Chairman of Real-SPLM
Amanuel Yoanes Yor Akol Ajawin, Interim Security General of SSOMA and Chairman of NDM-PF
David Tut Kuiy, Member of SSOMA, Member of UDRM/A
Vakindi Unvu, Member of SSOMA and Chairman of SSNMC
Third parties: Witness
Henry Dilah Odwar, SPLM-IO Deputy Chairman
Observer
Samuel Tessema, IGAD - South Sudan Office Representative
Facilitator
Paolo Impagliazzo, Secretary General of the Community of Sant'Egidio
Full-text peace agreement
2021
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 56 |
| Best | 35 |
| Low | 35 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of South Sudan): n/a
Side B (NAS): n/a
2022
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 30 |
| Best | 23 |
| Low | 23 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of South Sudan): n/a
Side B (NAS): n/a
2023
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 19 |
| Best | 5 |
| Low | 4 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of South Sudan): n/a
Side B (NAS): n/a
2024
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 23 |
| Best | 23 |
| Low | 23 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of South Sudan): n/a
Side B (NAS): n/a
Dyad Archive
This section contains annual information no longer systematically collected by the UCDP.
2017 Dyad Archive
Terminated: NO
2018 Dyad Archive
Terminated: NO
2019 Dyad Archive
Comment on Active: Fighting between the government and NAS (National Salvation Front), led by Thomas Cirillo, escalated in 2019 in the Greater Equatoria region of South Sudan. Repeated clashes resulted in more than 100 battle-related-deaths thus meeting the UCDP criteria for inclusion for the first time.
Negotiations: NO
Victory: NO
Terminated: NO
2020 Dyad Archive
Comment on Active: Fighting in the Greater Equatoria region continued between the government and NAS (National Salvation Front) led by Thomas Cirillo, despite negotiation efforts during 2020.
Negotiations: YES
Comment on Negotiations: Negotiations were held during the year with the mediation of the Community of Sant'Egidio. On 12 January the parties signed a ceaseifre agreement which also provided for continued negotiations. In February the Rome Resolution on Monitoring and Verification was signed. The peace process continued with new negotiations on concrete implementation of the ceasefire in Rome from 9 to 13 November 2020. In negotiations in December the parties agreed to some points to be part of a future agreement: the federal nature of government and the division of powers, national identity and respect for ethnic, cultural and linguistic differences, the creation of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) and the National Constitution Review Commission (NCRC), the creation of an oversight mechanism on economic governance (revenue, budget and expenditure), the reform of civil and public sector as well as of a new security sector, the internal borders between the different region of the country, the respect of territories and rights of indigenous communities and the active participation of the International community in all the phases following the Rome initiative.
Two points were still to be agreed: the nature of the conflict and the method to approve the new constitution.
Victory: NO
Terminated: NO
2021 Dyad Archive
Terminated: NO
2022 Dyad Archive
Terminated: NO
2023 Dyad Archive
Terminated: NO
2024 Dyad Archive
Terminated: NO
