South Sudan’s military announced that it has regained control of a significant town in Upper Nile state, which was previously seized by an ethnic Nuer militia in March. This incident contributed to the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar and triggered a deepening political crisis.
Since a peace agreement in 2018, President Salva Kiir has been part of a fragile power-sharing arrangement with Machar, following a civil war that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands.
Machar is currently under house arrest, accused of attempting to incite a rebellion by allegedly supporting the White Army militia in Upper Nile, raising international concerns about the potential for renewed ethnic conflict.
Military and White Army representatives, the latter of which Machar’s party denies supporting, reported that Nasir town was retaken on Sunday without any resistance.
“We were merely executing a tactical withdrawal,” stated Honson Chuol James, spokesperson for the White Army, who also mentioned that 17 individuals lost their lives during intense shelling in the nearby village of Thuluc.
Army spokesperson Lul Ruai Koang noted that the military successfully avoided an ambush in Thuluc due to effective air support.
“They were detected while regrouping, came under fire, and subsequently scattered,” Koang explained.
Earlier this month, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni met with Kiir after sending troops to bolster security in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, amid rising political tensions.
Uganda’s military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is also Museveni’s son, claimed that his forces have eliminated 1,500 White Army fighters, who had allied with Machar’s troops during the civil war.
Recently, Machar’s SPLM-IO party appeared to be fracturing, with one faction announcing a temporary replacement for Machar as party chairman, while the armed wing expressed continued loyalty to their detained leader.
