South Sudan in peace milestone graduates 1st unified forces

By DENG MACHOL
Associated Press

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan has reached a milestone in its recovery from civil war, graduating its first group of unified armed forces from former rival groups. President Salva Kiir called on the more than 20,000 new forces to refrain from political and ethnic divisions after they successfully completed basic training. He said that “from today you are not military wings to any party. Now you belong to the South Sudanese people.” The new forces graduated without firearms, with the government blaming the arms embargo on South Sudan imposed by the United Nations Security Council. They carried wooden guns instead.