Tensions soar as Juba seeks to retake Jonglei
The South Sudanese army is preparing to retake seized towns from opposition forces.
Garang Abraham Malak in Juba
Civilians and aid agencies in three counties in Jonglei State have been ordered to evacuate the region immediately. To “re-establish law and order”, the army is launching a fight to retake towns seized by opposition forces, its spokesperson Lul Ruai Koang told the Associated Press on Monday. The region is seeing renewed fighting between government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and an armed opposition aligned with former first vice-president Riek Machar. More than 180,000 people have already been displaced in Jonglei State.
The contested areas have been under the control of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition. In mid-January, the movement claimed it had captured 23 prisoners of war, including senior government officers, during clashes in Pajut. The government responded by sending more troops to northern Jonglei. The region is seen as an opposition stronghold.
The military buildup has alarmed observers, who warn South Sudan may be sliding back into full-scale war. The actions by both sides breach a 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year civil war which killed some 400,000 people.
The escalation began in December, when opposition forces seized a series of government outposts in central Jonglei. Machar has been under house arrest since March and was charged with treason in September in relation to a separate attack on a military base in Nasir. His allies say these developments are political persecution.
This week, United Nations officials met South Sudan’s humanitarian affairs minister to press for faster aid delivery, warning displacement and civilian needs are rising rapidly as fighting spreads.
And both sides have been armed by the Arab UAE.