Last northern JIU members left Juba

The Joint Integrated Unit (JIU), comprising of both northern and southern soldiers, was created in line with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

For further background information read         \" Neither \'joint\' nor \'integrated\' \"                      by the Small Arms Survey

As the South voted overwhelmingly for secession during January\'s referendum, all JIU soldiers are in the process of returning to their respective parent units.

According to JIU Head of Operations, Col. Mohamed Murtada, the departure of the First Division from Juba marked the last SAF troops departing the south for the north. He added that JIU SPLA units from Khartoum have also left for the south.

The move ends decades of northern military presence in the southern capital, just months before Southern Sudan’s independence on July 9. Marvis Birungi brings this report from Juba: