Africa-Press. The South Sudanese government has urged opposition forces to halt the fighting, warning that rebel advances and ongoing clashes — which have already caused mass displacement in Jonglei State — risk reigniting a civil war.
Clashes between government forces and fighters loyal to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) have reached a level not seen since 2017, according to the United Nations.
The government said its forces had repelled rebel advances in Jonglei, which stretches from the Ethiopian border to central South Sudan. The Minister of Information and government spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny, said in a statement:
“The ongoing security operation in northern Jonglei State is a lawful and necessary measure aimed at halting the advance of rebel forces, restoring public order, and protecting civilians.”
The government called on the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition to immediately cease hostilities, adding:
“Any actions that undermine the 2018 peace agreement pose a serious threat to peace and endanger the ongoing transitional process.”
On Sunday, the South Sudanese army ordered all civilians, as well as personnel of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and other humanitarian organizations, to evacuate three counties in Jonglei ahead of its operation against opposition forces.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the mission was concerned that the fighting could put hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk.
The spokesperson added:
“The mission also warns that escalating hate speech is fueling ethnic tensions and threatens to draw civilian communities into the conflict.”
UNMISS said on Sunday that at least 180,000 people in Jonglei have already been displaced by the fighting.
The civil war, fought between 2013 and 2018 between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of his deputy, Riek Machar, largely along ethnic lines, claimed the lives of around 400,000 people.
Machar is currently standing trial on charges of high treason after an ethnic militia with historical ties to the SPLA-IO seized a military base in the town of Nasir in the northeast of the country last year.
