Describes events through 28 April 2014
On 15 April, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) reoccupied Bentiu, the state capital, transforming the dynamics of the conflict in Unity state. February and March 2014 had seen the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) consolidating its hold on the north and centre of the state, while taking rebel positions in the southern and central counties of Koch, Leer, and Panyijar; areas that—along with Mayendit county—constitute the principal bases of SPLA-IO support. The SPLA-IO have now overturned some of these advances, recapturing Bentiu—which they lost on 10 January—and making gains in Mayom county in the west of the state, a crucial government transport corridor to Warrap and to the Bahr el Ghazal region, where the bulk of loyalist SPLA forces are located.