South Sudan on brink of civil war as UN mission urges restraint amid reports of Machar's arrest
Dr Machar and his wife, Angelina Teny, were placed under house arrest on Wednesday night, an action that now threatens peace in the fragile nation.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan is calling on all parties to exercise restraint, cease hostilities and uphold the revitalised peace agreement in the best interest of the citizens following news of the arrest of the country's first Vice President Dr Riek Machar.
"Tonight, the country's leaders stand on the brink of relapsing into widespread conflict or taking the country forward towards peace, recovery and democracy in the spirit of the consensus that was reached in 2018 when they signed and committed to implementing a Revitalized Peace Agreement," the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom said.
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He cautioned that unilateral amendments by Parties to that agreement that jeopardize the hard-won gains of the past seven years risk returning the country to a state of war.
"This will not only devastate South Sudan but also affect the entire region," he warned.
Dr Machar and his wife, Angelina Teny, were placed under house arrest on Wednesday night, an action that now threatens peace in the fragile nation.
Local media say the arrest follows weeks of escalating clashes between Machar's forces and the South Sudan People's Defence Forces near the capital Juba, raising fears of a return to widespread violence.
Multiple foreign embassies have since been forced to temporarily shut down their operations as others opt to reduce their staff to the bare minimum.
Those that have temporarily closed include the Norwegian Embassy, while those that have reduced their native staff include the United States and the United Kingdom.
This is after their earlier call for cessation of hostilities in the Upper Nile Region over the raging tensions in Nasir Town and urge for dialogue amongst the political leadership in Juba failed to bear fruit.
These clashes have raised concerns about a potential return to the widespread violence that plagued South Sudan in 2013 and 2016.
The Sudan Post notes that Machar's detention represents a significant setback to the 2018 peace agreement, which sought to end years of civil war.
"Since the formation of the transitional government in 2020, disagreements over power-sharing and continued clashes have threatened fragile peace. Under the agreement, Machar's SPLM-IO was granted 27 percent of government positions at the national, state, and local levels. However, Kiir's SPLM party has encroached on these positions, including the critical Ministry of Defence, which was initially assigned to the SPLM-IO," the paper notes.
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