On Monday, the UN warned that the nation was on the brink of another civil war following clashes in the north between armed forces allied with Machar and government troops.
According to opposition spokesperson Pal Mai Deng, Machar is being held in confinement by the government, with his life “at risk,” he said in a video statement to the press on Wednesday.
The chief of the UN mission in South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, stated that following reports of Machar’s detention, all parties should “stay calm and respect the Revitalized Peace Agreement.”
The civil war in South Sudan, which resulted in 400,000 deaths over five years, concluded in 2018 with a peace agreement that united President Salva Kiir and Machar in a unity government. Machar is one of the five vice presidents in the nation.
The tensions between Kiir’s and Machar’s parties intensified in March when the White Army, a Machar-loyal armed group, overpowered an army base in Upper Nile state and targeted a UN helicopter.
In response, the government carried out airstrikes and warned civilians living in the vicinity of the army base to vacate, or else they “would face consequences.”
More than a dozen people have lost their lives since the airstrikes began mid-March, and the UN has warned of a renewed civil war if the leaders don’t prioritize the nation’s well-being.
“Tonight, the nation’s leaders stand at the edge of relapsing into widespread conflict or progressing the country towards peace, recovery, and democracy, in line with the consensus reached in 2018 when the Revitalized Peace Agreement was signed and committed to be implemented,” stated Haysom in a statement on Wednesday.
An opposition figure claimed that 20 heavily armed vehicles showed up at Machar’s house where he was arrested along with his wife.
“His bodyguards were disarmed, and an arrest warrant was served to him without clear charges,” Reath Muoch Tang, an official in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army – In Opposition, said.
The U.S. State Department’s bureau of African affairs called on Kiir to nullify Machar’s house arrest and “prevent further escalation of the situation” in a proclamation on Twitter.
In early March, several of Machar’s key allies were detained by security forces, which his followers denounced as a “grave violation” of the peace deal.
Germany and Norway have temporarily closed their respective embassies in Juba, while the U.S. Embassy diminished its minimal staff due to security concerns and advised Americans in the country to prepare for shelter, should the “situation worsen further.” The British Embassy also scaled back its staff, with consular services “severely limited.”
