South Sudan’s main opposition party has announced that its leader, Riek Machar, has been detained by the government, amid warnings of renewed civil war in the world’s youngest nation.
According to opposition spokesperson Pal Mai Deng, Mr. Machar is currently “in confinement by the government” and his life is “at risk”.
“His bodyguards were disarmed, and an arrest warrant was presented to him on unclear charges. There are ongoing efforts to relocate him,” Mr. Tang reported.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir (left) and Riek Machar in Juba in 2019. Pic: AP
Mr. Machar was apprehended after “more than 20 heavily armed vehicles forcibly entered his residence”, according to Reath Muoch Tang, the foreign relations committee chairman of the SPLM-IO party (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition).
This arrest follows clashes in the north between an armed group aiding Mr. Machar and government forces, which the UN fears could relaunch the country into full-scale civil war.
Nicholas Haysom, the head of the UN mission in South Sudan, responded to this news by urging all parties to ” exercise restraint and uphold the Revitalised Peace Agreement”.
In 2018, SPLM-IO entered a unity government alongside President Salva Kiir under a power-sharing agreement, concluding South Sudan’s five-year civil war that saw around 400,000 fatalities.
Tensions flared between Mr. Kiir and Mr. Machar’s parties last month when the White Army, an arm group loyal to Mr. Machar, attacked a military base in Upper Nile state and a UN helicopter.
Civilians were urged to vacate the area targeted by the government’s airstrikes to avoid repercussions.
Following the airstrikes, more than a dozen deaths have been reported.
On Monday, the UN cautioned of impending civil war unless the leaders prioritize the nation’s interests.
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Mr. Haysom stated on Wednesday that South Sudan’s leaders “stand on the edge of either relapsing into widespread conflict or steering the nation towards peace, recovery, and democracy”.
Earlier this month, several senior allies of Mr. Machar were seized by security agencies, which his supporters denounced as a “severe breach” of the 2018 peace accord.
South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, has endured conflict and instability ever since becoming the world’s youngest nation.
