South Sudan opposition says its leader Machar has been arrested as UN
warns of a renewed civil war
[March 27, 2025]
By DENG MACHOL
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan’s main opposition party said its
leader Riek Machar has been arrested as the U.N. called on all parties
to uphold the 2018 agreement that ended the country's civil war.
The U.N. had warned on Monday that the country was teetering on the edge
of a renewed civil war after fighting in the north between an armed
group allied to Machar and government forces.
Machar was “in confinement by the government” and his life was “at
risk,” opposition spokesperson Pal Mai Deng said in a video address to
the media Wednesday night.
The head of the U.N mission in South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, said
following reports of the detention of Machar, all parties should
“exercise restraint and uphold the Revitalized Peace Agreement.”
South Sudan's five-year civil war, in which 400,000 people were killed,
ended in a 2018 peace agreement that brought President Salva Kiir and
Machar together in a unity government. Machar is one of the five vice
presidents in the country.
Tensions have been increasing between Kiir and Machar’s parties and
escalated in March when the White Army, an armed group loyal to Machar,
overran an army base in Upper Nile state and attacked a U.N helicopter.
The government responded with airstrikes, warning any civilian in the
area where the army group is based to vacate or “face consequences.”
More than a dozen people have died since the airstrikes started in
mid-March and the UN warned of a renewed civil war if the leaders do not
put the country’s interests first.
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“Tonight, the country’s leaders stand on the brink of relapsing into
widespread conflict or taking the country forward towards peace,
recovery and democracy in the spirit of the consensus that was
reached in 2018 when they signed and committed to implementing a
Revitalized Peace Agreement,” Haysom said in a statement on
Wednesday night.
An opposition official described 20 heavily armed vehicles arriving
at Machar's home where he was arrested alongside his wife.
“His bodyguards were disarmed, and an arrest warrant was delivered
to him under unclear charges,” said Reath Muoch Tang, an official in
the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army - In Opposition.
The U.S. State Department's bureau of African affairs in a statement
on X urged Kiir to reverse the house arrest and “prevent further
escalation of the situation.”
In early March, several of Machar’s senior allies were arrested by
security forces, an action his supporters condemned as a “grave
violation” of the peace deal.
Germany and Norway have temporarily closed their respective
embassies in Juba. The U.S Embassy further reduced its minimal staff
due to security threats and advised Americans who are in the country
to prepare to shelter should the “situation deteriorate further.”
The British Embassy also said it had temporarily reduced its staff
with consular services “severely limited.”
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