Koch, South Sudan

Last updated
Koch
South Sudan adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Koch
Location in South Sudan
Coordinates: 8°35′45″N29°59′31″E / 8.595958°N 29.991989°E / 8.595958; 29.991989
Country Flag of South Sudan.svg South Sudan
Region Greater Upper Nile
State Unity State
County Koch County
Time zone UTC+2 (CAT)

Koch is a community in the Koch County of Unity State, in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It is the headquarters of Koch County.

The community lies in Jagei Nuer territory. [1] It is within the Block 5A oil concession. Between 1998 and 2003 the community was attacked many times by government-supported troops or militias. [2] In 2002 the community was repeatedly attacked by a government Antonov bomber and helicopter gunships. [3]

On 31 January 2000, Riek Machar formally resigned from the government and called on his commanders and Nuer chiefs to meet him at Koch. United Nations planes were used under false pretenses to transport leaders to the conference, where the Sudan People's Defence Forces / Democratic Front was announced. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unity (state)</span> State of South Sudan

Unity State, also known as Western Upper Nile, is a state in South Sudan. Unity State is in the Greater Upper Nile region. Unity is inhabited predominantly by two ethnic groups: the Nuer majority, and the Dinka minority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonglei State</span> State of South Sudan

Jonglei State is a state of South Sudan with Bor as its centre of government and the biggest city. Jonglei state comprises nine counties: Bor, Akobo, Ayod, Uror, Duk, Nyirol, Pigi, Twic East, and Fangak. Jonglei State is the largest state by area before reorganisation, with an area of approximately 122,581 km2, as well as the most populous according to the 2008 census conducted in present-day South Sudan's second period of autonomy. The boundaries of the state were again changed as a result of a peace agreement signed on 22 February 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riek Machar</span> South Sudanese politician (born 1952)

Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon is a South Sudanese politician who served as the First Vice President of South Sudan.

The Jikany Nuer are a section of the Nuer people who mainly live in the eastern part of Upper Nile state in South Sudan, particularly around Nasir in Nasir County.

Leer is a town in the Leer County of Unity State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It is the capital of Leer County and was the capital of the former Southern Liech State. It is the most densely populated county in South Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fangak County</span> County in Greater Upper Nile, South Sudan

Fangak County is an administrative area of Jonglei State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan, with headquarters in the town of Phom el Zaraf.

Melut County is an administrative area of Upper Nile State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan.

Gordon Kong Chuol is a former militia commander in South Sudan, who fought for the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and later for the forces led by Riek Machar during the Second Sudanese Civil War.

Mayom is a community in the Mayom County of Unity State, in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It is located west of Bentiu. It is the headquarters of Mayom County.

Mayom County is an administrative division of Unity State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It is located to the west of Bentiu. The county headquarters is Mayom town.

Major General Yohannes Yual Both was a leader of the South Sudan Defense Forces whose mobile forces gave the Sudan People's Liberation Army considerable difficulty during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005).

Tito Biel Chuor was a high-ranking commander in the South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF) during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005).

Mankien is a community in Unity State in South Sudan. With a key location near the oil fields, the town changed hands more than once during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005). In April 2011 the town was once again the scene of conflict between militia and government troops.

Fangak is a community in the Fangak County of Jonglei State, in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. The capital is Old Fangak. It was once a British garrison town. The administration buildings were destroyed during the civil war.

Ethnic violence in South Sudan has a long history among South Sudan's varied ethnic groups. South Sudan has 64 tribes with the largest being the Dinka, who constitute about 35% of the population and predominate in government. The second largest are the Nuers. Conflict is often aggravated among nomadic groups over the issue of cattle and grazing land and is part of the wider Sudanese nomadic conflicts.

Thar Jath is a community in Koch County, Unity State, South Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Block 5A, South Sudan</span> Petroleum concession of South Sudan

Block 5A is an oil concession in South Sudan. After oil field development began during the Second Sudanese Civil War, Block 5A was the scene of extensive fighting as rival militias struggled for control. Out of an original population of 240,000, an estimated 12,000 were killed or died of starvation and 160,000 were displaced by force. Production started in 2006. There is evidence that the environmentally sensitive marshlands beside the Nile are becoming polluted.

Nhialdiu is a large village in the Rubkona County of Unity State, in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. It is located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Bentiu.

Peter Par Jiek was a brigadier general of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), and veteran of the Second Sudanese Civil War. In the course of that conflict, Par fought under Riek Machar with several rebel and pro-government groups, and eventually became a powerful militia commander in Unity State. In that region, he established his own fiefdom and gained some notoriety for his rivalry with another rebel leader, Peter Gadet. Even though he had followed Machar during the whole Second Sudanese Civil War until 2005, Par sided with President Salva Kiir Mayardit upon the outbreak of the South Sudanese Civil War in 2013. Leading pro-government counter-insurgency forces in Wau State since 2014, Par was eventually ambushed and killed by SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Machar in 2017.

The War of the Peters was a conflict primarily fought between the forces of Peter Par Jiek and Peter Gadet from June 2000 to August 2001 in Unity State, Sudan. Though both were leaders of local branches of larger rebel groups that were involved in the Second Sudanese Civil War, the confrontation between the two commanders was essentially a private war. As Par and Gadet battled each other, the Sudanese government exploited the inter-rebel conflict as part of a divide and rule strategy, aimed at weakening the rebellion at large and allowing for the extraction of valuable oil in Unity State. In the end, Gadet and Par reconciled when their respective superiors agreed to merge the SPDF and SPLA.

References

  1. 1 2 Jemera Rone (2003). Sudan, oil, and human rights. Human Rights Watch. p.  335. ISBN   1-56432-291-2.
  2. West's federal supplement. West Publishing Company. 2007. p. 660.
  3. Nicholas Coghlan (2005). Far in the waste Sudan: on assignment in Africa. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 165. ISBN   0-7735-2935-7.