The Vice President of South Sudan, Riek Machar, has reportedly been arrested amid escalating tensions in the world’s youngest nation. The United Nations has warned that this action could jeopardize the already fragile peace deal and potentially plunge the country back into civil war.
On Wednesday, Machar was detained by the National Security Service, with an armed convoy forcefully entering his residence to disarm his bodyguards and deliver an arrest warrant on him, according to his political party. The reasons behind the charges are not yet clear. His whereabouts on Thursday morning remain unknown, and officials from both the government and opposition could not be reached for comment.
This arrest threatens the peace agreement signed in 2018 between President Salva Kiir and Machar, ending a five-year conflict that claimed nearly 400,000 lives. The U.S. State Department has expressed concern about reports of Machar’s “house arrest” and called on President Kiir to reverse the action to prevent further escalation of the situation. Both the U.S. and the U.K. have stated that they will reduce the staffing at their respective embassies in South Sudan due to increased insecurity. The U.N. mission in South Sudan has emphasized that Machar’s detention risks returning the country to a state of war, posing a threat not only to South Sudan but also to the wider region.
The peace deal signed in 2018 demilitarized the capital, created a power-sharing agreement, and established measures to share oil profits between the country’s largest ethnic groups. However, these efforts appear to be unraveling as political and ethnic tensions resurface, resulting in clashes between forces allied with both sides. The violence has displaced over 50,000 people since February and prompted over 10,000 individuals to seek refuge in neighboring Ethiopia. In recent days, South Sudan’s military and opposition forces have been engaged in clashes near the capital, and last month, Machar’s political party accused authorities of persecuting its supporters and detaining several close associates of the vice president. Additionally, the national army has clashed with an armed group believed to be aligned with Machar in the Upper Nile State.
Machar’s detention also raises questions about the presence of Ugandan troops in the country. Only days before his arrest, Machar wrote to the United Nations and African Union expressing concern over the deployment of Ugandan forces. The Ugandan defense minister, Jacob Oboth, stated that South Sudan’s President Kiir had requested the deployment. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni is a long-time ally of Kiir, and Uganda is concerned about the potential influx of refugees and further regional instability if South Sudan plunges into conflict.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/world/africa/south-sudan-vice-president-arrest-riek-machar.html
