Latest news with #RiekMachar
Associated Press
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
South Sudan's main opposition party rejects president's call for dialogue to avoid civil war
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan 's main opposition party on Thursday dismissed a presidential call for dialogue to avoid the country slipping back into a civil war due to stalled peace talks. Pal Mai Deng, a spokesperson for the opposition SPLM-IO, said President Salva Kiir 'must release political and military leaders of the SPLM-IO who are in detention to show his seriousness about the dialogue.' During the reopening of parliament on Wednesday, Kiir said there was a need for unity and national reconciliation, adding that the 'doors of peace remain open.' 'The suffering of our people must not be prolonged by the continued rejection of dialogue,' he said. The situation in South Sudan remains tense after Vice President Riek Machar — Kiir's former rival — was placed under house arrest following an attack on army bases in March. Several members of the SPLM-IO opposition party have gone into exile fearing arrests. South Sudan signed a peace agreement in 2018, ending a five-year civil war in which nearly 400,000 people died as forces loyal to Kiir and Machar clashed. Deng told The Associated Press that Kiir's appeal was 'paradoxical and insincere' due to the arrests of opposition officials and army attacks on opposition forces. 'Before he (Kiir) urged the parties to resume dialogue, he needed to stop military campaigns against SPLM-IO forces and indiscriminate killing of Nuer civilians he considered anti-government,' said the exiled spokesperson. The CEPO civil society group has warned that Machar's detention has made the continuation of talks impractical. 'The absence of Machar in the function of the government in day-to-day business of the government is making the government of national unity unbalanced,' Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of CEPO, said. The United Nation warned last month that a 2018 peace agreement was on the verge of collapse due to escalating violence, political repression, and foreign military involvement. Yasmin Sooka, chairperson of the UN's Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, described the situation as a 'crisis' adding that the peace agreement was at the 'brink of irrelevance, threatening a total collapse.'
Reuters
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
South Sudan's president fires army chief after seven months in post
NAIROBI, July 8 (Reuters) - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has fired the country's army chief after seven months in the post and named a replacement, according to an announcement on state radio. No reason was given for the firing of Paul Nang Majok in the announcement late on Monday. Majok had been in the post since December. The announcement said Kiir had appointed Dau Aturjong as the Chief of Defence Forces. Majok was in charge of the army while fighting raged between the army and the White Army, an ethnic militia largely comprising Nuer youths, triggering the country's latest political crisis. "There has been a tradition that when you are appointed, or reassigned there are no reasons (given) for getting appointed and there are no reasons given for getting relieved. It is normal," said Lul Ruai Koang, South Sudan army spokesperson. South Sudan has been formally at peace since a 2018 deal ended the five-year conflict responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, but violence between rival communities flares frequently. In March, First Vice President Riek Machar was put under house arrest, stirring fears of renewed conflict. Information Minister Michael Makuei said the arrest was due to Machar contacting his supporters and "agitating them to rebel against the government with the aim of disrupting peace so that elections are not held and South Sudan goes back to war." Machar's party has previously denied government accusations that it backs the White Army, which clashed with the army in the northeastern town of Nasir in March. In May, South Sudan's army said it had recaptured the town from the White Army.
Arab News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
South Sudan's president fires army chief after seven months in post
NAIROBI: South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has fired the country's army chief after seven months in the post and named a replacement, according to an announcement on state radio. No reason was given for the firing of Paul Nang Majok in the announcement late on Monday. Majok had been in the post since December. The announcement said Kiir had appointed Dau Aturjong as the Chief of Defense Forces. Majok was in charge of the army while fighting raged between the army and the White Army, an ethnic militia largely comprising Nuer youths, triggering the country's latest political crisis. 'There has been a tradition that when you are appointed, or reassigned there are no reasons (given) for getting appointed and there are no reasons given for getting relieved. It is normal,' said Lul Ruai Koang, South Sudan army spokesperson. South Sudan has been formally at peace since a 2018 deal ended the five-year conflict responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, but violence between rival communities flares frequently. In March, First Vice President Riek Machar was put under house arrest, stirring fears of renewed conflict. Information Minister Michael Makuei said the arrest was due to Machar contacting his supporters and 'agitating them to rebel against the government with the aim of disrupting peace so that elections are not held and South Sudan goes back to war.' Machar's party has previously denied government accusations that it backs the White Army, which clashed with the army in the northeastern town of Nasir in March. In May, South Sudan's army said it had recaptured the town from the White Army.
Eyewitness News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Eyewitness News
UN airdrops food aid in S.Sudan to people hit by conflict
NAIROBI, KENYA - The World Food Programme said Monday it had airdropped food aid to help tens of thousands of people in remote parts of South Sudan where surging conflict has pushed some communities "to the brink of famine". The unstable east African nation has seen a drastic uptick in violence since simmering rivalry between President Salva Kiir and his vice-president Riek Machar boiled over into open hostilities in March. The tensions raised fears of a return to full-scale war in the impoverished country, the world's youngest, where a civil war killed some 400,000 people in 2013-2018. "These distributions mark WFP's first access in over four months to deliver life-saving food and nutrition assistance to more than 40,000 people... in the most remote parts of Nasir and Ulang counties, areas only accessible by air," the United Nations agency said in a statement. More than one million people across Upper Nile state - which borders war-torn Sudan - face acute hunger, including over 32,000 people already experiencing "catastrophic" levels of hunger, the WFP warned, adding the figure had tripled since conflict flared, triggering mass displacement. Fighting has blocked main river routes, which are the most cost-effective way to reach large swathes of Upper Nile and northern Jonglei state to deliver assistance, the UN agency added. Across South Sudan, 7.7 million people, or 57% of the population, face "crisis, emergency or catastrophic" levels of hunger, it said. A funding shortfall has forced the WFP to prioritise assistance with reduced rations for only the most vulnerable 2.5 million people. The agency has appealed for $274 million to continue life-saving operations through December.
Al Arabiya
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
UN airdrops food aid in South Sudan to people hit by conflict
The World Food Program said Monday it had airdropped food aid to help tens of thousands of people in remote parts of South Sudan where surging conflict has pushed some communities 'to the brink of famine.' The unstable east African nation has seen a drastic uptick in violence since simmering rivalry between President Salva Kiir and his vice-president Riek Machar boiled over into open hostilities in March. The tensions raised fears of a return to full-scale war in the impoverished country, the world's youngest, where a civil war killed some 400,000 people in 2013-2018. 'These distributions mark WFP's first access in over four months to deliver life-saving food and nutrition assistance to more than 40,000 people... in the most remote parts of Nasir and Ulang counties, areas only accessible by air,' the United Nations agency said in a statement. More than one million people across Upper Nile state -- which borders war-torn Sudan -- face acute hunger, including over 32,000 people already experiencing 'catastrophic' levels of hunger, the WFP warned, adding the figure had tripled since conflict flared, triggering mass displacement. Fighting has blocked main river routes, which are the most cost-effective way to reach large swathes of Upper Nile and northern Jonglei state to deliver assistance, the UN agency added. Across South Sudan, 7.7 million people, or 57 percent of the population, face 'crisis, emergency or catastrophic' levels of hunger, it said. A funding shortfall has forced the WFP to prioritize assistance with reduced rations for only the most vulnerable 2.5 million people. The agency has appealed for $274 million to continue life-saving operations through December.
