A senior SPLA-IO commander in Western Equatoria region has complained about lack of basic services at cantonment sites in Kediba, Ngiri and Mudubai areas.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, Gen. Barnaba Malesh, the SPLA-IO’s deputy commander for sector 6 in the region said more than 8,000 SPLA-IO soldiers are lacking medical services, food and clean drinking water.

He further said food brought by members of the Joint Military Ceasefire Committee (JMCC) was insufficient.

 “We have troops in Ngiri, Kediba and Mudubai, so all of them lack health services, food and when someone falls sick, it is difficult to transport him to the hospital because there is no mobility,” Malesh said.

He pointed out that registration forms sent by the JMCC were not enough for the 8,000 troops currently occupying the three cantonment sites in the region. “We registered only 2,000 soldiers only because the forms were not enough and we don't know when more will be sent,” he said.

Signatories to the revitalized peace deal have missed IGAD's September 30 deadline to have half of the 83,000 unified forces trained and deployed. Creating a unified army and determining the number of states and their boundaries remain the biggest challenges in the peace deal.

Machar's opposition group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-In-Opposition (SPLM- IO), on Monday rejected a push for a transitional government without proper security arrangements and agreement on the internal boundaries of states.