Al-Junaynah, December 11 (Darfur24)
South Sudan’s military has deployed to the Heglig oilfield under an unprecedented agreement involving South Sudan and Sudan’s rival forces, in a bid to shield one of the region’s most vital energy installations from the escalating civil war.
The deployment on Wednesday followed the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) capture of Heglig on December 8, which forced Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) units to retreat across the border into South Sudan, where they reportedly surrendered their weapons.
Lieutenant General Paul Nang, Chief of Staff of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), confirmed that the move into Heglig was carried out under a tripartite agreement between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit, SAF Commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti).
Speaking from Heglig, Nang said the agreement requires the withdrawal of both SAF and RSF from the area. South Sudanese forces will then assume full responsibility for securing the oil facilities and preventing any sabotage attempts. He stressed that the SSPDF would remain strictly neutral.
He added that the arrangement aims to neutralize the oilfield amid intensifying fighting across Sudan’s Kordofan region, where the conflict now threatens the primary source of revenue for both countries.
The deployment is rooted in an earlier oil and security cooperation agreement between Sudan and South Sudan, which mandates joint protection of oilfields, pipelines, and pumping stations that transport South Sudan’s crude through Sudanese territory. The pact also includes energy-sector cooperation and electricity interconnection projects. The new element, officials say, is the involvement of the RSF in the security framework.
The RSF had announced on Monday that it had taken control of the Heglig oil region and the headquarters of the SAF’s 90th Brigade in Babanusa after army forces withdrew toward South Sudan.
The Sudan’s Transitional Government Council of Ministers confirmed on Wednesday that an attack on the Heglig oil field on Tuesday resulted in civilian casualties, including three South Sudanese army personnel who were inside the facility at the time.