The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have handed over to the Joint Integrated Unit (JIU) a garrison in Malakal that had been under SAF control for over 50 years.

Military parade with SAF flag

The handover to the JIU - a combined SAF and Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) force - fulfills security arrangements laid down in the country's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The CPA had set 9 July as the deadline for SAF and SPLA to move north and south respectively of the north-south boundary drawn in 1956 - the so-called 1/1/56 line.

The last SAF Commander of the garrison, Lt. Colonel Salim Ali Balael, who commands more than 400 regular soldiers and 100 officers, officially handed over the garrison at a ceremony attended by politicians, government officials, UN representatives, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the general public.