John Uliny, also known as Johnson Olony, Johnson Olonyi, and John Olony, is a

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

ese militia leader. He is a member of the Shilluk ethnic group. He has at various points in time been allied with the

South Sudan Democratic Movement The South Sudan Democratic Movement (SSDM), sometimes called the South Sudan Democratic Movement/Army (SSDM/A), was a South Sudanese militant group. Along with its armed wing, the South Sudan Defence Army (SSDA), rebelled against the government ...

, the

Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition The Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (Abbreviation, abbreviated SPLM-IO), also known as the anti-governmental forces (AGF), is a mainly South Sudanese political party and rebel group that split from the Sudan People's Liberation ...

and has led his own Agwelek Forces. He fought the South-Sudanese government in Upper Nile State between 2016 and 2018.

Biography

Uliny is from Upper Nile. He was the leader of a group of forces waiting for integration into the

Sudan People's Liberation Army The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the military force of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key parti ...

(SPLA). After a conflict emerged between his forces and the SPLA, he fled to

South Kordofan South Kordofan ( ') is one of the 18 States of Sudan, wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 158,355 km2 and an estimated population of approximately 2,107,623 people (2018 est). Kaduqli is the capital of the state. It is centered on t ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. There, he aligned himself with the

(SSDM or SSDM/A) of

George Athor George Athor Deng (1962 – 19 December 2011) was the Sudan People's Liberation Army lieutenant general and a SPLA dissident who led the South Sudan Democratic Movement and its military wing, the South Sudan Defence Army. He was also an indepe ...

. In February 2012 –shortly after the death of Athor– he claimed the leadership of the South Sudan Democratic Movement. He subsequently entered into peace talks with the South Sudanese government. On 13 June 2013, he accepted the amnesty offered by the government of President

Salva Kiir Mayardit Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951), commonly known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who is the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the List of heads of state of So ...

. He was formally inducted into the military and given the rank of major general. His forces, however, were not integrated in the army structure. In February 2014, he took a shot to the neck after opposing forces aligned with

Riek Machar Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon (born 26 November 1952) is a South Sudanese politician who has served as the vice president of South Sudan on several occasions, most recently as the first vice president, since 2020. A member of the Nuer ethnic group ...

entered the city of

Malakal Malakal is a city in South Sudan, serving as the capital of Upper Nile (state), Upper Nile State in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan, along the White Nile, White Nile River. It also serves as the headquarter of Malakal County and it us ...

. In 2014 he joined the

(SPLM-IO). In February 2015, his forces were reported by

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

to be forcibly enlisting

child soldiers Children in the military, including state armed forces, non-state armed groups, and other military organizations, may be trained for combat, assigned to support roles, such as cooks, porters/couriers, or messengers, or used for tactical adv ...

. In April 2015, his deputy was shot and tensions between Uliny's forces and the government's forces rose. The state government and governor left the city of Malakal which Uliny's forces controlled. Uliny did not report to government forces for weeks and did not attend meetings in

Juba Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a populatio ...

. On 15 May, Uliny's forces declared they wished to run the affairs of Malakal independently, and announced the name of their group as Agwelek Forces. They stated they were willing to work together with other opposition forces such as the SPLM-IO. After September 2016 Yohanis Okiech split off from the Agwelek Forces, starting the Tiger Faction New Forces. They were ambushed by Uliny's forces in January 2017 and Okiech was killed. Uliny's forces fought against government forces in Upper Nile state 2016–2018. In April 2017 Uliny's forces lost control of Kodok which had been the headquarters of the SPLM-IO since 2014, the city of Pagak, became threatened and was lost in August 2017. In 2018 Machar proposed that Uliny should be made governor of Upper Nile, this proposal was rejected by Mayardit. In 2021 he joined the Kitgwang Declaration of Simon Gatwech Dual against Machar. As of May 2023 Uliny remained in Juba.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uliny, John Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Upper Nile (state) Shilluk people South Sudanese military personnel People of the South Sudanese Civil War