South Sudan’s First Vice-President Riek Machar has been placed under house arrest by state security forces, his party said on Thursday, escalating fears of renewed conflict in the war-scarred nation.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement In Opposition (SPLM-IO) said a heavily armed convoy, including senior security officials and the defence minister, entered Machar’s compound in the capital, Juba, on Wednesday night and disarmed his bodyguards.
“Technically, Dr Machar is under house arrest, but the security officials initially tried to take him away,” said Reath Muoch Tang, chair of the SPLM-IO’s foreign relations committee.
South Sudanese authorities have yet to publicly comment on the situation.
The SPLM-IO said Machar was detained along with his wife, Interior Minister Angelina Teny, under what it called an “unclear” arrest warrant.
The group described the move as a “blatant violation” of the constitution and the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) warned that the country risked falling back into widespread violence, stating the arrest marked a potential turning point.
“Tonight, the country’s leaders stand on the brink of relapsing into widespread conflict,” UNMISS said, urging respect for the peace deal signed in 2018 to end a five-year civil war that claimed nearly 400,000 lives.
Relations between Machar and President Salva Kiir have grown increasingly strained in recent months, fuelled by ethnic divisions and sporadic clashes.
The latest reports of fighting in the northern town of Nasir in Upper Nile State have further heightened concerns.
Foreign embassies have begun scaling back operations. The US and UK missions have reduced staffing and urged nationals to leave the country, while the Norwegian and German embassies have suspended activities in Juba.
