Peter Lorot is a former officer who served with 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) during the

Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil Wa ...

(1983-2005). He broke away from the SPLA in 1999 with a

Didinga The Didinga (also spelled DiDinga) are a Surmic ethnic group that occupy the Didinga Mountains region in Budi County, Eastern Equatoria State in South Sudan. They live in the valleys, on the plateaus and slopes, and on the adjacent plains of t ...

force based on

Chukudum Chukudum is a town in Budi County, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan. It is located at the base of the Didinga Mountains and is home to the Didinga tribe. It faces issues such as poor infrastructure, conflict, and security challenges exacerbated by i ...

, in

Budi County Budi County is an administrative area of Eastern Equatoria state in South Sudan, with headquarters in Chukudum. Location Budi county is derived from two ethnic groups who inhabit the area (Buya and Didinga). It is located in Eastern Equatoria St ...

Eastern Equatoria Eastern Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of 73,472 km2. The capital city is Torit. On October 1, 1972, the state was divided into Imatong and Namorunyang states and was re-established by a peace agreement signed on 22 F ...

State in

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 ...

. In the resulting conflict many people were displaced. As of April 2011 Lorot's forces were still not reconciled with the de facto SPLM government.

Civil war

In 1999 there was extreme tension in Chukudum between the

Dinka The Dinka people () are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of three provinces that were formerly part of southern ...

-led military authorities and the Didinga people, fueled by a history of humiliation, harassment and violence since the SPLA moved into the region in 1985. When a Dinka was promoted in place of Lorot, he and several supporters assassinated the Dinka officer and took to the woods. In September 2000

Non-Government Organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

(NGO) personnel were evacuated from the area due to concerns that conflict might erupt between Lorot's forces and the SPLA. The next month Lorot attacked SPLA forces around Chukudum. Since the SPLA had followed a policy of integrating people of different communities into their forces, the SPLA troops attacked by Lorot were Didinga and

Toposa people The Toposa are a Nilotic ethnic group in South Sudan, living in the Greater Kapoeta region of Eastern Equatoria state. They have traditionally lived by herding cattle, sheep and goats, and in the past were involved in the ivory trade. They hav ...

, rather than the

Dinka people The Dinka people () are a Nilotes, Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, South Sudan, Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal (region of South Sudan), Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nil ...

against whom Lorot was hostile. A report of the fighting said Lorot seemed to be supported by the government of Sudan. In May 2001 the Danish pilot of an

ICRC The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

plane was killed while flying over the region. The plane had been forced to descend briefly to for technical reasons, and had just climbed back to its assigned altitude. An SPLM spokesman said the SPLA had no forces in the area, and "therefore puts the blame squarely on the government of Sudan and its allied militias", including Lorot's group among these. The government in Khartoum had accused the SPLA of involvement, but the SPLM said the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) controlled Kapoeta town and was responsible for the incident because it directed Lorot's operations. According to an SPLM spokesman the incident occurred west of the Didinga Hills, about south of Kapoeta, over territory that was mostly controlled by pro-government militias led by Captain Peter Lorot. The fighting with Lorot's forces displaced about 16,800 people from Chukudum to nearby villages in the highlands. The "Chukudom Crisis" was resolved in August 2002 during a Peace Conference organized by the New Sudan Council of Churches. During the crisis, landmines were sown in the fields around Chukudum.

Post-war

The civil war ended in 2005. In February 2006 Brigadier General

Aloisio Emor Ojetuk Aloisio Emor Ojetuk was governor of Eastern Equatoria State of South Sudan from 2005 to 2010. In September 2006, Ojetuk said that the remnants of the former Equatoria Defence Forces (EDF) were being supplied with ammunition by the Sudanese Armed ...

, Governor of Eastern Equatoria, said about 359 men from Lorot's force had joined the SPLA and were receiving training. An attempt by the SPLA in June 2006 to disarm Lorot's militia was ignored, with the group threatening to start fighting again. In July 2006, the first Vice President of the Government of National Unity of

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 ...

and President of Southern Sudan,

Salva Kiir 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 President of the Government ...

, called for unity in South Sudan. He described Lorot as being among those who had not yet made up their minds about which side they wanted to support. In April 2011, renewed fighting between Lorot's tribal militia and SPLA forces was said to have resulted in several deaths and massive displacement of civilians.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorot, Peter Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Eastern Equatoria