“The security situation in Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, has deteriorated since July 7, 2016”. On Tuesday, leaders of the fighting groups announced ceasefire. If it will bring peace or not in the country, however, remains to be seen.
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Here is a low-down on the recent episode of violence.
The reason behind the latest round of violence is, however, not clear.
More than 300 people were reported to have been killed in renewed fighting in Juba, with Vice President Riek Machar’s spokesperson saying that the country was officially back at war. The fighting has raised fears of a return to the civil war that erupted in late 2013 and broadly ran along ethnic lines, pitting Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, against Machar, a Nuer.
The conflict killed thousands of people, forced more than 2.5 million people from their homes and left nearly half the population of 11 million people struggling to find food. Oil production, by far the biggest source of government revenue, has plummeted.
Both leaders deny responsibility for starting the violence and had called for calm while it raged, leading to concerns that they have lost control of their forces or other political actors may be involved.
The violence marks a fresh blow to last year’s peace deal which has failed to end the civil war that broke out in December 2013, when Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup. But this was the first time it had flared in Juba since Machar finally returned in April after months of wrangling about terms of the pact. “We most likely witnessed an acceleration … into a full-on war in Juba between the two parties”, Pinaud said. Sunday and Monday’s fighting was more fierce.
President of South Sudan Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, leader of the opposition and a former rebel leader, have ordered their forces to halt fighting and stick to a ceasefire declared after days of bloody clashes which claimed hundreds of lives and displaced thousands.
“We know about some civilians being shot at in and around these protected (U.N.) sites”, Eglin told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Juba. The U.N. now has 12,000 peacekeeping troops and police in South Sudan.
At least two United Nations peacekeepers have been killed, the AP writes, and aid workers are having difficulty supplying water to the approximately 30,000 people inside the camps.
South Sudanese nationals trying to escape the capital were prevented from doing so by authorities, according to a security worker in Juba who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.
“We have made all arrangements to evacuate Indians from South Sudan in case the situation deteriorates further”, said Ms Swaraj, also noting that the situation has reportedly improved.
Yesterday, MEA in its advisory had said Indian nationals desirous of departing for South Sudan may register themselves at the email ID [email protected].
“Let me start by expressing my deep condolences to the families and loved ones of all those who have been killed in the fighting that has consumed Juba over the past four days”.
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