South Sudanese government forces have successfully retaken the strategic town of Nasir, a key area in the nation’s escalating political crisis, according to an army spokesperson on Sunday.
The clashes surrounding Nasir, located in Upper Nile State, have significantly undermined the fragile power-sharing agreement between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar.
This resurgence of violence threatens to push South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation since its independence in 2011, back into a state of full-blown civil war.
Allies of President Kiir have accused forces loyal to Vice-President Machar of instigating unrest in Nasir, allegedly in collaboration with the “White Army,” a loosely organized group of armed youth primarily from Machar’s Nuer ethnic community.
Approximately 6,000 White Army fighters reportedly seized a military encampment in Nasir in early March, resulting in the death of a high-ranking general and numerous other individuals.
The South Sudanese army, supported by the Ugandan military, has been engaged in intense fighting to regain control of the region. Army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang announced the “re-liberation of the historical town of Nasir” in a statement on Sunday.
Earlier in the week, the army also claimed to have captured Ulang, a nearby town that had been under the control of Machar’s forces for an extended period.
President Kiir and Vice-President Machar were previously engaged in a devastating five-year civil war, which resulted in an estimated 400,000 deaths before a power-sharing agreement was reached in 2018.
However, this agreement has been on the brink of collapse in recent weeks, with President Kiir consolidating his authority in various parts of the country.
Several political and military figures allied with Machar have been arrested recently, and Machar himself was reportedly placed under house arrest in late March.
The United Nations reported last week that clashes across South Sudan since March have resulted in the deaths of nearly 200 people and the displacement of approximately 125,000 individuals.
Human Rights Watch has also accused the army of using improvised incendiary devices in Upper Nile State over the past month, allegedly causing the deaths of nearly 60 civilians.
