Ugandan Air Force Supports President Salva Kiir’s Government In Emergency Humanitarian Aid Operation

The Uganda People’s Defence Airforce (UPDAF) has in the past few days airdropped hundreds of metric tonnes in emergency food aid to hard-hit areas of South Sudan’s northern Upper Nile State where thousands of displaced people are currently living in famine conditions following the outbreak of armed violence in the region earlier this year.

The humanitarian aid deliveries provided by a coalition of international partners is airlifted by UPDAF from Juba International Airport to the Ulang and Nasir Counties of the Upper Nile state. Since March 2025,  fighting has pitted the government’s South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) against the Sudan People’s Liberation Army In Opposition (SPLA-IO), a Nuer tribal militia group that is allied to incarcerated 1st Vice President of South Sudan Dr Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon.

The SPLA-IO, also known as the White Army, is accused of conducting widespread massacres against the rival Dinka communities and other ethnic groups in the region.

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) at the request of South Sudan authorities deployed an expeditionary force to the country in March 2025, helping to support the SSPDF in rear security operations to secure the capital Juba as well as provide other military technical assistance.

The security situation around the greater Juba region has since stabilized, easing tensions which have since allowed foreign missions, businesses, and trade to boom again.