Violence in South Sudan Risks Return of Civil War

As many as 146 fighers from rival militias have been killed in violence that erupted last week in South Sudan, jeopardiing a fragile peace deal struck barely a year ago.    

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Diplomats journalists and government officials say they don't know what triggered the outbreak of gunfire Thursday evening outside the presidential compound in the capital city of Juba as President Salva Kiir was meeting with first vice president and former rebel leader Riek Machar.  But rival militias carrying out joint patrols seemed to initiate the fighting, sending thousands scattering for cover, before spreading across the city this weekend.

Saturday marked the fifth anniversary of South Sudan's independence from Sudan following a referendum in which the electorate agreed to secede by a near-unanimous vote. The outbreak of violence, however, caused government officials to cancel the weekend celebrations. 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that the latest violence showed a lack of commitment to the peace process and urged the country's leaders to end the fighting, discipline military leaders and collaborate to secure a sustainable peace. He described the latest series of attacks as a “new betrayal” of the South Sudan people.

South Sudan President Kiir and Vice-President Machar,  a former rebel leader, called for calm Friday and promised a swift and decisive effort. "This incident also will be controlled, and then measures will be taken so that peace it restored," Machar said at a joint news conference with Kiir on Friday.

Experts have warned that South Sudan, an oil-rich nation with a population of 12 millio people, risks returning to a disastrus civil war unless factions act quickly to strengthen the peace plan and either integrate or demobilize rival combatants.Thursday and Friday's gunfights were the first major outbreak of violence in Juba since Machar returned to the capital in April after his re-appointment as vice president.

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Kiir's SPLA and Machar's opposition SPLA-IO fought for more than two years during the civil war which started in December 2013, after Kiir sacked Machar as his vice president for allegedly plotting against him. The conflict was largely fought along ethnic lines with Kiir mostly drawing support from his Dinka tribe while Machar was backed by his Nuer tribe.

A peace agreement in August of 2015 ended the internecine conflict which left tens of thousands dead, and even more displaced, although Kiir and Machar are yet to integrate their forces, a key part of the agreement.