UN Warning: Increasing Killings Threaten Stability in South Sudan
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, warned yesterday, Friday, that South Sudan is going through a "dangerous" phase, with rising killings threatening the stability of the fragile peace agreement in the country.
This comes after accusations from Western powers against groups linked to the army for committing a new massacre in the east of the country.
In Jonglei State, Information Minister Nyamaar Ngundeng revealed on Thursday evening that at least 16 people were killed on Saturday by "rebel elements of the Popular Defense Forces," while the government denied deliberately targeting civilians, indicating that some victims may have fallen in crossfire in the tense area along the border with Ethiopia.
It is noted that the 2018 peace agreement ended a five-year civil war between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of First Vice President Riek Machar, resulting in the deaths of about 400,000 people, making South Sudan one of the newest and most fragile countries in the world.
Despite the agreement, clashes over land and other disputes have recurred, and the political crisis deepened after Machar was suspended from his duties last year and accused, along with 20 others, of participating in raids carried out by militias in the northeast of the country, which they all denied.
With the escalation of violence and the threat to peace stability, South Sudan appears to be at a dangerous turning point that could drag the country back into a cycle of conflict, raising international concerns about the collapse of the fragile peace agreement that ended the civil war eight years ago.
