Gabriel Tanginye | |
---|---|
Birth name | Gabriel Gatwech Chan |
Born | 1960 Fangak County, Republic of the Sudan |
Died | 5 January 2017 Hamra, South Sudan | (aged 56–57)
Battles / wars | First Sudanese Civil War Second Sudanese Civil War George Athor's rebellion South Sudanese Civil War |
Gabriel Gatwech Chan (1960[1] – 5 January 2017), better known by his nom de guerre Tanginye (meaning "long pipe"),[2] was a South Sudanese military officer and rebel commander of various ethnic Nuer militant groups during the Second Sudanese Civil War and South Sudanese Civil War.
During the South Sudanese Civil War, Tanginye allied with the SPLA-IO and later Lam Akol's militia, a Juba linked rebel group called the National Democratic Movement (NDM) and became its chief of staff.[3] In January 2017, he visited a NDM-allied group, the Tiger Faction New Forces, in the Hamra area in the northern Upper Nile. In course of this visit, the Tigers were attacked by SPLM-IO-affiliated fighters belonging to the militia of John Uliny, and Tanginye was killed in action alongside most of the fighters from the Tigers faction.[1][4][5]
Tanginye led a militia in southern Sudan allied to the Khartoum government during the Second Sudanese Civil War.[6] Members of the Sudanese military loyal to Tanginye in Malakal clashed with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in 2006, killing about 150 people, and in 2009 in breach of the peace deal.[6] In April 2011, clashes between his militia and the SPLA in the state of Jonglei killed at least 57 according to government officials.[6] Shortly thereafter, Tanginye surrendered to SPLA forces and was placed under house arrest in Juba awaiting charges against him.[7]