By Yiep Joseph
As the special court continues with the trials of Puot Kang and seven co-accused, witnesses surface with fresh testimonies.
This is one of the high-profile cases in the country since it involved the suspended First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar as one of the accused.
The 32nd session that took place on Wednesday concluded with the third prosecution witness.
As testimonies continue, the fourth prosecution witness, 1st Lt. Mohamed Ahmed Jidu, appeared before court and said he was trapped in an armored personnel carrier (APC) with Major General David Majur, who was later allegedly killed by the White Army and SPLA-IO forces.
He reiterated that the relationship between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces, the White Army, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) has not been good; however, it worsened in February 2025.
He claimed that the conflict began on February 14, when the White Army and SPLA-IO forces started ambushing SSPDF soldiers during fishing and firewood collection.
Ahmed said that on March 1, the SPLA-IO, White Army, and Commissioner Gatluak reportedly held a joint meeting, electing Colonel Tor Gile as White Army leader, deputized by Kang Makana.
According to him, this came at a time when the Nair County headquarters had been so busy with meetings; however, the commissioner, who is from SPLA-IO, continued to downplay when asked by the late General David Majur Dak.
Ahmed told the court that on March 2, Dr. Riek Machar Teny held a phone meeting with the White Army and SPLA-IO at 3:55 PM.
According to him, this particular meeting resulted in the attack on the Nasir garrison on the third day.
Ahmed testified that he learned through military sources and his in-laws that the meeting was well planned and reached a conclusion to attack Nasir Garrison.
As someone who has been deployed in Nasir since 2018, Ahmed said he married from Nasir and hence has in-laws who later linked the information to him that the army barrack would be attacked.
He claimed that in addition to the in-laws, the intelligence unit also informed him that the phone meeting held by Dr. Machar and the White Army/SPLA-IO leaders concluded with a plan to attack the Nasir garrison.
On March 3, Tor Gile, who is the White Army leader, allegedly led the first attack, during which he was killed and SSPDF forces repelled the attackers.
According to Ahmed, this was the exact information that he got from sources within Nasir: that the White Army and SPLA-IO forces will launch an attack on the government barrack.
On March 4, Kang Makana carried out a second attack, capturing the garrison in the morning.
Ahmed said that he, David Majur Dak, who was the commander of the garrison, and others were wounded and trapped inside an APC.
He told the court that Dr. Riek Machar has consistently called the late Majur on the phone and requested him to surrender to the SPLA-IO, which he refused.
Ahmed, however, told the court that during the evacuation, the SPLA-IO forces who were carrying Majur to the plane abandoned him and instead joined their colleagues who were ready to lining up to shoot.
He told the court that, the SSPDF soldiers who were not seriously wounded carried the Gen Majur however the whole team came under serious fire; hence, many were killed, and few, including him, entered the plane successfully.
Ahmed testified that he has been with the late Major, and he witnessed everything that occurred until the end.
He told the court that six, including him, who were with Majur reached Malakal all wounded, while one succumbed to injuries in the plane.
After he concluded the testimonies, the judge adjourned the trial to Friday, when the defense will resume the cross-examination.
Machar and his co-accused face charges including murder, conspiracy, terrorism, financing terrorism, treason, destruction of public property and military assets, and crimes against humanity.
The government alleges that SPLA-IO forces, allied with the White Army, killed 257 soldiers, including General Majur Dak, and caused losses of weapons valued at $58 million.