JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN: South Sudan’s main opposition party said its leader the country’s first vice president, Dr Riek Machar has been arrested as the security situation in world’s youngest nation continues to worsen.
The U.N. had warned on Monday that the country was teetering on the edge of a renewed civil war following fighting in the north between an armed group allied to Machar and government forces.
Machar was “in confinement by the government” and his life was “at risk,” opposition spokesperson Pal Mai Deng said in a video address to the media Wednesday night.
The Opposition official narrated how 20 heavily armed vehicles arrived at Machar’s home where he was arrested alongside his wife.
“His bodyguards were disarmed, and an arrest warrant was delivered to him under unclear charges,” said Reath Muoch Tang, an official in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army – In Opposition.
The united Nations and continental bodies including the African Union, East African Community and Southern Africa Development Cooperation have called on all parties to “exercise restraint and uphold the Revitalized Peace Agreement.”
South Sudan’s five-year civil war, in which 400,000 people were killed, ended in a 2018 peace agreement that brought President Salva Kiir and Machar together in a unity government. Machar is one of the five vice presidents in the country.
Tensions have been increasing between Kiir and Machar’s parties and escalated in March when the White Army, an armed group loyal to Machar, overran an army base in Upper Nile state and attacked a U.N helicopter.
The government responded with airstrikes, warning any civilian in the area where the army group is based to vacate or “face consequences.” More than a dozen people have so far died since the airstrikes started in mid-March and the UN warned of a renewed civil war if the leaders do not put the country’s interests first.
In early March, several of Machar’s senior allies were arrested by security forces, an action his supporters condemned as a “grave violation” of the peace deal.
Germany and Norway have temporarily closed their respective embassies in Juba. The U.S Embassy further reduced its minimal staff due to security threats and advised Americans who are in the country to prepare to shelter should the “situation deteriorate further.” The British Embassy also said it had temporarily reduced its staff with consular services “severely limited.”
