The U.S. and its allies must rethink support for the status quo in South Sudan, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman has said.
Reacting to the outbreak of fighting in Upper Nile, Senator Jim Risch on Wednesday said South Sudan’s selfish leaders continue to push their young nation back to civil war.
“The country has suffered enough at the hands of this oppressive and incompetent “government” which clings to power by prolonging a sham peace process,” Senator Risch said on Thursday.
According to South Sudan media has reported clashes between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and a local armed group the White Army in Nasir County, Upper Nile State.
The fighting has resulted in an unspecified number of casualties and forcing many residents to flee.
The fighting, which began early on Monday, is said to be ongoing, with reports of heavy machine gunfire and aerial bombardment.
The security situation in Upper Nile State has been unstable since mid-February, following earlier clashes between the SSPDF and the White Army in Nasir County. Tensions escalated further after the government sent additional forces, including elements of the Agwelek militia group led by General Johnson Olony.
The parties to the South Sudan peace agreement the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – In Opposition have traded blame game over the fighting.
Al Jazeera on Wednesday reported that South Sudanese forces had arrested the Petroleum minister and several senior military officials allied with First Vice President Riek Machar as soldiers surrounded his home in the capital, Juba.
Deputy army chief, General Gabriel Duop Lam, a Machar loyalist, was held on Tuesday, while Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol was arrested on Wednesday alongside his bodyguards and family.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the embassies of the US, the UK, Canada, France, Germany , the Netherlands, Norway and the EU expressed concern over the arrests, and deplored the fighting.
“Juba-based leaders must demonstrate their commitment to peaceful dialogue and should put the interest of the South Sudanese people first,” the statement said.
IGAD ambassadors also issued a joint statement calling for ceasefire in the fighting in Upper Nile.
