Tito Biel Chuor (or Chol, Chor) was a high-ranking commander in the South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF) 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). Tito Biel, of the Dok section of the

Nuer people The Nuer people are a Nilotic peoples, Nilotic ethnic group concentrated in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. They also live in the Ethiopian region of Gambela Region, Gambella. The Nuer speak the Nuer language, which belongs to t ...

, was originally in 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), but joined

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 ...

's breakaway faction in 1991. He followed Riek Machar when he became reconciled with the Sudan government in 1997, joining the SSDF. Major General Tito Biel led SSDF forces in 1998/1999 in clashes with Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) troops and militia under Major General Paulino Matiep. By April 1999 Tito Biel's SSDF forces in Western Upper Nile were cooperating with the

(SPLA) forces in

Bahr el Ghazal Bahr el-Ghazal (, also transliterated ''Bahr al-Ghazal'', ''Baḥr al-Ghazāl'', ''Bahr el-Gazel'', or versions of these without the hyphen) may refer to two distinct places, both named after ephemeral or dry rivers. Chad * Bahr el-Ghazal (wadi in ...

, who were supplying arms. Tito was pushed out of

Leer Leer may refer to: * Leer, Lower Saxony, town in Germany ** Leer (district), containing the town in Lower Saxony, Germany ** Leer (Ostfriesland) railway station * Leer, South Sudan, town in South Sudan ** Leer County, an administrative division ...

by Paulino's forces, and on arrival in

Yirol Yirol is a city in South Sudan. Location It is located in Yirol West County, Lakes State, in central South Sudan. Its location lies approximately , by road, northwest of Juba, the largest city in South Sudan and the capital of that country. Th ...

early in May 1999 he formally declared that he had switched to the SPLA, along with his officers and men. For several months after September 1999 he coordinated with Commander

Peter Gadet Peter Gatdet Yak (1958 – 15 April 2019), better known as Peter Gadet, was a South Sudanese general and SPLA commander who became the leader of the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), a rebel movement in South Sudan. Early life He was born betw ...

in attacking various oil-related targets in Unity State. Gadet had also rebelled from the SSDF after fighting Tito earlier in the year for control of Block 5A. In November 1999 Biel, Gadet and other Nuer commanders formed the Upper Nile Provisional United Military Command Council (UMCC) to coordinate anti-government forces in the state. They were not satisfied with

for cooperating with the government despite the fact that the government had not honored the Khartoum peace agreement and had not handed over control of the oil fields to the Nuer militias. Riek Machar resigned from the government at the end of the year and in February 2000 formed the Sudan People's Defense Forces/Democratic Front (SPDF). For a while the UMCC and SPDF cooperated, but the arrangement broke down as the government supplied Machar with arms and ammunition to settle grievances with the SPLA/Gadet troop. Later in 2000 Tito Biel joined Riek Machar's SPDF. He spent several months after March 2000 in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

with Riek Machar and other leaders. In early 2001 Tito Biel returned to Eastern Upper Nile with Riek Machar where they tried to drum up support for the SPDF militia. In early February 2002, resentful that he had not been consulted on Riek Machar's deal with John Garang to rejoin the SPLA, Tito Biel rejoined the Sudan government. Later he was joined by Peter Gadet.

References

Sources * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Biel, Tito South Sudanese politicians Living people Year of birth missing (living people)