In February 2011, forces loyal to the rebel General George Athor attacked three operational outposts of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
George Athor Deng (1962 – 19 December 2011) was the Sudan People's Liberation Army Lieutenant General and a SPLA dissident who led the South Sudan Democratic Movement and its military wing, the South Sudan Army.
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The declaration marked an escalation in the ongoing clashes between the SPLA, the Murle, and the Lou Nuer in Jonglei and Upper Nile, which began when armed Murle fighters under the influence of George Athor's South Sudan Democratic Movement launched a cattle raid against the Lou Nuer in Jonglei state.
The Movement, which was formed in 2010 by controversial former Sudan People's Liberation Army general George Athor after he failed to win the governorship of Jonglei in what was then the Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan, is active in the state of Jonglei as well as neighbouring Upper Nile in the Republic of South Sudan.
George Athor had lost the April 2010 gubernatorial election for Jonglei state, and had accused SPLM officials of rigging the results in favour of Kuol Manyang Juuk, who was elected.