South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has officially changed the name of Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) to South Sudan People’s Defence Forces.
State-owned television, SSBC reports that the President issued the Republican order to transform the army Tuesday.
The President said that the new name is in a bid to professionalize the army to reflect the diversity of the South Sudanese communities.
The order cited resolutions of the sixth SPLA Command Council Meeting of 2017.
The SPLA was created in 1983 as the military wing of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), and it became the national army of South Sudan when other rebel groups were integrated in 2005 and after independence in 2011.
