ISTANBUL

The UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Sunday expressed concern over reports that a senior military leader urged troops to attack civilians in Jonglei State.

In a statement, UNMISS said over 180,000 people have reportedly been displaced in Jonglei, with communities there and elsewhere in South Sudan “suffering immense harm” from escalating fighting between the main parties to a 2018 peace agreement.

“South Sudan’s leaders continue to reiterate their commitment to peace, yet hostilities and violations of the ceasefire continue unabated,” it said.

“Inflammatory rhetoric calling for violence against civilians, including the most vulnerable, is utterly abhorrent and must stop now,” Graham Maitland, officer in charge of UNMISS, stressed.

He called on the country’s leaders to stop the fighting, honor the peace deal, and “put the interests of their people first.”

“This includes returning to consensus-based decision-making, adhering to power-sharing arrangements, and agreeing on a path to peacefully end the transitional period through inclusive dialogue,” Maitland added.

South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, gained independence from Sudan in 2011 following a referendum.

However, it has remained mired in conflict since December 2013, when President Salva Kiir Mayardit dismissed and accused then-Vice President Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

Despite peace deals signed in 2018 and 2022, instability persists.

Last February, a militia group known as the White Army, largely made up of members of Machar’s Nuer ethnic group, seized a town in the Upper Nile State. In response, several generals and government ministers affiliated with Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition were detained.

Opposition leader Machar and several other detained figures face serious charges, including murder, treason, and crimes against humanity, and are also accused of conspiracy, financing terrorist activities, destroying public and military property, and inciting violence in Nasir County.