Is South Sudan on the verge of another civil war?
Former vice president Riek Machar threatens to march on capital 'and end this drama'
Fears are growing that South Sudan's fragile peace plan, agreed in 2015 after two years of civil war, could be unravelling.
On Tuesday, President Salva Kiir, from the Dinka ethnic group, fired six ministers allied to his long-time rival Riek Machar, who is from the Nuer group and currently in hiding.
Machar, the former vice president whose sacking by Kiir in 2013 helped trigger the civil war, has threatened to march with his supporters to the capital, Juba, "and end this drama" if a foreign protection force is not deployed.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
An AFP report, carried in the MailOnline, says Tuesday's dismissals come days after Lam Akol, a minister representing another opposition grouping, resigned and declared the peace deal dead.
The peace agreement signed by both sides last year provided for a unity government, but the ceasefire that followed has broken down several times.
Reuters quotes a UN estimate that around 60,000 people have fled the outbreak of fighting between Kiir and Machar supporters in recent weeks, on top of the hundreds of thousands already forced to flee in two years of ethnically charged violence.
"On July 7, a checkpoint shootout between the rival sides ended in the deaths of five soldiers who were loyal to the president. The next day, gunfire erupted at the presidential palace as Mr Kiir and Mr Machar were meeting inside," wrote Jacey Fortin for the New York Times. Within three days, the two sides "fell back to their old war footing and took up arms once again".
The fighting is not confined to the capital. Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan, reporting from Aweil, says there is evidence of armed groups in Wau, near the border with Sudan, "looting villages, murdering civilians, and forcing young men and boys to join them".
Millions of South Sudanese made homeless, hungry or both from this fresh eruption of violence are in desperate need of more assistance, says the UN's humanitarian chief.
Visiting the town of Aweil earlier this week, Stephen O'Brien warned the humanitarian situation "has the danger of getting worse before it can get better".
Fighting flares up in South Sudan as violence leaves scores dead
11 July
South Sudan is heading back towards civil war after fighting broke out between rival factions in the nation's capital, Juba. At least 272 people were killed in the fighting, a health ministry source told Reuters.
The clashes began on Friday outside the presidential compound, where president Salva Kiir was meeting the former rebel leader and current vice president, Riek Machar. Shooting reportedly broke out between Kiir's and Machar's bodyguards.
The renewed conflict has "echoes of the days before the civil war began", according to the BBC World Service's Africa Editor, Mary Harper. "Huge distrust remains between Mr Kiir and Mr Machar and between their forces," she says. "The leaders may even be struggling to control their own troops."
Soldiers loyal to Machar have claimed that the vice president's residence was attacked by the president Kiir's troops. But Kiir's information minister, Michael Makuei, says the reports were "dishonest".
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon says the "senseless violence is unacceptable" and has the potential of "reversing the progress made so far in the peace process".
The UN Security Council has used an emergency session to call on the factions to end the violence before it escalates into full-scale conflict. In a unanimous statement, the council expressed "particular shock and outrage" over attacks on UN peacekeeping mission sites in Juba.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why more and more adults are reaching for soft toys
Under The Radar Does the popularity of the Squishmallow show Gen Z are 'scared to grow up'?
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Magazine solutions - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine printables - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
By The Week US Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published