The United Nations mission in South Sudan voiced alarm Sunday after reports that a senior commander urged troops to attack civilians in Jonglei.
UNMISS said more than 180,000 people have been displaced, as communities across Jonglei endure immense suffering from escalating, chaotic fighting.
The violence pits the main parties to a 2018 peace agreement against each other, reopening wounds that never truly healed.
“South Sudan’s leaders speak of peace, yet ceasefire violations continue without pause,” the UN mission said in a somber statement.
Graham Maitland, the officer in charge of UNMISS, condemned rhetoric calling for violence against civilians as abhorrent and intolerable.
He urged leaders to halt hostilities, honour the peace deal, and place the interests of ordinary people above political rivalries.
Maitland called for consensus-based decisions, respect for power-sharing, and inclusive dialogue to end the fragile transitional period peacefully.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, won independence in 2011, yet conflict has shadowed its brief and hopeful history.
Civil war erupted in 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused then–Vice President Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
Despite peace deals signed in 2018 and 2022, instability has lingered like smoke after a fire.
Last February, the White Army militia seized a town in Upper Nile State, prompting arrests of Machar-aligned generals and ministers.
Machar and other detainees now face sweeping charges, including murder, treason, crimes against humanity, and alleged incitement of violence.
