KAMPALA, Uganda—Uganda ordered the withdrawal of thousands of its troops from South Sudan on Monday, signaling the beginning of the end of Kampala’s nearly two-year role in the civil war.
Chief of defense forces Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala told reporters in Kampala that the withdrawal of the 3,000 troops was justified by the August truce[1] between President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar.
The withdrawal is a boost for international and regional efforts to end the nearly three-year war, which has cost about 50,000 lives, as recent clashes in oil-producing regions have raised doubts on whether the peace deal will hold.
“The boys are coming home after [doing] a very good job,” Gen. Wamala said. “We are coming in an organized fashion—we are not running away.”
President Yoweri Museveni deployed soldiers in the oil-rich nation in 2013 after a rebel onslaught that nearly toppled Mr. Kiir’s beleaguered government.
Mr. Museveni faces re-election early next year[2] with opposition to his three-decade rule mounting among young voters and some critics say his decision was influenced by domestic political pressure rather than being a reflection of the truce. The presidency denies the charge.
South Sudan broke away from Sudan in 2011[3], taking with it a third of the oil fields after a two-decade civil war. But the world’s youngest nation descended into further chaos[4] before it could celebrate its third anniversary setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that splintered the country along ethnic lines, pitting Mr. Kiir’s Dinka community against Mr. Machar’s Nuer tribesmen.
Messrs. Kiir and Machar signed a power sharing deal in August but sporadic fighting has persisted, with warring factions seeking to make gains in oil-producing regions. The two men have previously signed and then broken several cease-fire deals and some analysts doubt that August’s will hold.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry[5] warned that the renewed fighting “cannot be tolerated.”
Write to Nicholas Bariyo at
References
- ^ August truce (www.wsj.com)
- ^ re-election early next year (blogs.wsj.com)
- ^ South Sudan broke away from Sudan in 2011 (www.wsj.com)
- ^ descended into further chaos (www.wsj.com)
- ^ John Kerry (topics.wsj.com)
- ^
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