Twic East: The Battle of Panyagoor, South Sudan

Twic East: The Battle of Panyagoor, South Sudan

Panyagoor in particular became the staging grounds of the conflict and when Riek Machar’s SPLA-Nasir faction stormed into the region most of the residents scattered and fled to safer territory. But regardless of their fear, the people were still starving, and so when they heard that the United Nations was dropping much needed food rations at the Panyagoor airstrip, they put their fears aside and out of sheer necessity made the three day journey out of their hiding place and right back into the cross-hairs of Riek’s soldiers.

Sick and emaciated throngs of humanity began to congregate at both the airstrip and the store house where the aid was normally delivered, but at both locations they were viciously turned away by Riek’s men who had taken control of these two vital locations. Threatened with being shot on sight, they were being denied the very Aid that the United Nations had sanctioned for them. In the face of such totalitarian strong-arm tactics the starving masses had no choice but to turn back.

So taking a deep breath, knowing that this was as good a time as any, Charles braced himself as he knocked on the door of Machar’s hut. He stared in silence as he heard the rustling of someone getting out of bed, he then heard the sound of footsteps coming toward the door, and seconds later with the door quickly flung to the side, he was face to face with Riek Machar.
Riek did not like being disturbed in the morning and even his usual cheery façade failed to present itself as he snarled, “What? Who are you?” Charles then sighed and told Riek slowly and very carefully, “Mr. Machar, I am Charles Atem, an elder of this village that you are—”

As his sentence trailed off, thousands of words, adjectives, phrases and accusations came to mind, such as, ‘invading’ and ‘occupying’ when it came to describing Machar’s ruthless occupation. But Charles knew that presenting these bullies with the truth of their oppression would only bring more pain, so he sweetened the bitter reality by settling upon the word ‘visiting’ to describe the incursion. And so as he continued to Machar, “this village that you are visiting Mr. Machar is in dire need of supplies.”

About the Author:

Adier Mach Deng is a South Sudanese Author, Economist, and Artist living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He authored three books: Escaping Jihadists of Sudan, Beyond the Rivers of Sudan, and the Bor Massacre (coming soon). He was born in the village of Dong, Twic East, South Sudan. As a boy, raised in this region, he experienced the cruel reality of civil wars, genocide, and massacres through mid-1980 to early 2000. Adier holds degrees in Political Science, Law, and Business. Visit his website