Conflict continues, Vice President arrested, US comes forward

The latest developments around the capital Juba in South Sudan have raised concerns about a potential conflict in the volatile African country.

A series of clashes between forces supporting South Sudan's two rival leaders is threatening the fragile power-sharing deal reached between the parties in 2018. (Source: Reuters)

On March 26, the opposition Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA-IO), which supports First Vice President Riek Machar, said that two training bases outside the capital Juba had been attacked by forces allied to President Salva Kiir in the past two days.

In a Facebook post, SPLA-IO spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel condemned the attacks as acts of terrorism and called on the international community to take action. "SPLA-IO reserves the right to defend itself against any attack on its positions," he stressed.

The incident is the latest in a series of clashes between forces supporting South Sudan’s two rival leaders, President Kiir and First Vice President Machar, that threaten a fragile power-sharing deal reached in 2018.

The peace deal ended a five-year civil war that killed some 400,000 people, but South Sudan still faces poverty and instability.

Meanwhile, on the same day, March 26, Chairman of the SPLA-IO Foreign Relations Committee Reath Muoch Tang said that First Vice President Riek Machar was arrested at his private residence in Juba. The Minister of Defense and the Director General of National Security along with more than 20 heavily armed vehicles stormed the First Vice President's residence.

"We strongly condemn these unconstitutional actions. His (Machar's) bodyguards have been disarmed and an arrest warrant has been issued for him on unspecified charges," the statement said.

Responding to the above situation, on March 27, Reuters news agency reported that on social network X, the US Bureau of African Affairs called on South Sudan President Salva Kiir to release his opponent, First Vice President Riek Machar.

"We are concerned by reports that South Sudan's First Vice President Machar is under house arrest. We call on President Kiir to reverse this decision and prevent further escalation. It is time for South Sudan's leaders to demonstrate sincerity in their declared peace commitments," the appeal said.

Tensions across South Sudan have been extremely high since the White Army militia group seized Nasir camp in Upper Nile state on March 4. Several senior military and civilian officials of the SPLM-IO have been arrested in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, while some have fled the country.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tinh-hinh-nam-sudan-xung-dot-tiep-dien-pho-tong-thong-bi-bat-my-ra-mat-309039.html