South Sudan risks return to full-blown civil war
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John Ashworth
Mar 4, 2026, 4:30:37 AM (9 days ago) Mar 4
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South Sudan risks return to full-blown civil war as violence escalates
At least 169 killed in raid near Sudan border as clashes between
government and opposition forces intensify
Carlos Mureithi
Tue 3 Mar 2026
Guardian
South Sudan is reeling from an escalating conflict between the
government-aligned army and opposition forces and allied groups that
observers say risks returning the country to a full-blown civil war.
Violent confrontations in the world’s youngest country between the
military, which is loyal to President Salva Kiir, and insurgents
believed to be allied to the suspended vice-president, Riek Machar,
have increased in recent weeks.
On Sunday, at least 169 people were killed after armed youth from
Mayom county in the north raided a village in neighbouring Abiemnom
county near the Sudan border.
The victims included including women, children and members of
government security forces, said James Monyluak Majok, the information
minister for the administrative area of Ruweng, where Abiemnom is
located.
The UN mission in South Sudan said it was sheltering more than 1,000
civilians in its base in the area and providing medical care to those
injured. It said about 23 people were wounded in the attack.
Stephano Wieu de Mialek, the chief administrator of Ruweng, said the
assault was carried out by people linked to the White Army, a militia
that was allied to Machar during the civil war, alongside forces
affiliated with Machar’s political party and rebel group, the Sudan
People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO).
The group denied responsibility for the attack and said it had no
military presence in the area.
On Monday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said 26 of its staff were
unaccounted for after recent violence in parts of Jonglei state, which
has witnessed intense fighting between government and opposition
forces since December.
The humanitarian organisation said on 3 February that its hospital in
Lankien had been hit in an airstrike by government forces and later
burned and looted, and its health facility in Pieri was looted.
It said of the missing staff: “We have lost contact with them amid
ongoing insecurity.”
MSF said it had been forced to suspend medical activities in Lankien
and Pieri due to the insecurity.
Machar and Kiir were both members of the Sudanese People’s Liberation
Army guerrilla movement that fought for independence from Sudan, which
it gained in 2011, with Kiir becoming president and Machar first
vice-president.
South Sudan descended into a bloody civil war in 2013 after Kiir fired
Machar and later accused him of planning a coup.
Machar founded SPLM-IO and both groups engaged in fighting that killed
more than 400,000 people and displaced nearly half the country’s
population.
The fighting took place largely along ethnic lines between Kiir’s
majority Dinka community and Machar’s Nuer, the second-largest ethnic
group in the country.
In 2018, Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal — ending the civil war,
creating a unity government of the two parties and returning Machar to
the vice-presidency. But implementation of the agreement has barely
got off the ground, as the two parties constantly collide over
power-sharing.
Last September, Machar was charged with murder, treason and other
serious crimes in connection with a deadly attack by the White Army on
a government army garrison in Nasir county in the country’s
north-east. Kiir then suspended him from his post.
Machar is under house arrest as his trial continues. His supporters
say the charges against him are politically motivated, and observers
have said that Machar’s prosecution could jeopardise the peace
agreement.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/03/south-sudan-risks-return-civil-war-violence-escalates
END
______________________
John Ashworth
ashwor...@gmail.com
+254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile, WhatsApp and Signal)
PO Box 403 - 00206, Kiserian, Kenya
At least 169 killed in raid near Sudan border as clashes between
government and opposition forces intensify
Carlos Mureithi
Tue 3 Mar 2026
Guardian
South Sudan is reeling from an escalating conflict between the
government-aligned army and opposition forces and allied groups that
observers say risks returning the country to a full-blown civil war.
Violent confrontations in the world’s youngest country between the
military, which is loyal to President Salva Kiir, and insurgents
believed to be allied to the suspended vice-president, Riek Machar,
have increased in recent weeks.
On Sunday, at least 169 people were killed after armed youth from
Mayom county in the north raided a village in neighbouring Abiemnom
county near the Sudan border.
The victims included including women, children and members of
government security forces, said James Monyluak Majok, the information
minister for the administrative area of Ruweng, where Abiemnom is
located.
The UN mission in South Sudan said it was sheltering more than 1,000
civilians in its base in the area and providing medical care to those
injured. It said about 23 people were wounded in the attack.
Stephano Wieu de Mialek, the chief administrator of Ruweng, said the
assault was carried out by people linked to the White Army, a militia
that was allied to Machar during the civil war, alongside forces
affiliated with Machar’s political party and rebel group, the Sudan
People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO).
The group denied responsibility for the attack and said it had no
military presence in the area.
On Monday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said 26 of its staff were
unaccounted for after recent violence in parts of Jonglei state, which
has witnessed intense fighting between government and opposition
forces since December.
The humanitarian organisation said on 3 February that its hospital in
Lankien had been hit in an airstrike by government forces and later
burned and looted, and its health facility in Pieri was looted.
It said of the missing staff: “We have lost contact with them amid
ongoing insecurity.”
MSF said it had been forced to suspend medical activities in Lankien
and Pieri due to the insecurity.
Machar and Kiir were both members of the Sudanese People’s Liberation
Army guerrilla movement that fought for independence from Sudan, which
it gained in 2011, with Kiir becoming president and Machar first
vice-president.
South Sudan descended into a bloody civil war in 2013 after Kiir fired
Machar and later accused him of planning a coup.
Machar founded SPLM-IO and both groups engaged in fighting that killed
more than 400,000 people and displaced nearly half the country’s
population.
The fighting took place largely along ethnic lines between Kiir’s
majority Dinka community and Machar’s Nuer, the second-largest ethnic
group in the country.
In 2018, Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal — ending the civil war,
creating a unity government of the two parties and returning Machar to
the vice-presidency. But implementation of the agreement has barely
got off the ground, as the two parties constantly collide over
power-sharing.
Last September, Machar was charged with murder, treason and other
serious crimes in connection with a deadly attack by the White Army on
a government army garrison in Nasir county in the country’s
north-east. Kiir then suspended him from his post.
Machar is under house arrest as his trial continues. His supporters
say the charges against him are politically motivated, and observers
have said that Machar’s prosecution could jeopardise the peace
agreement.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/03/south-sudan-risks-return-civil-war-violence-escalates
END
______________________
John Ashworth
ashwor...@gmail.com
+254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile, WhatsApp and Signal)
PO Box 403 - 00206, Kiserian, Kenya
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