Another South Sudan minister arrested in escalation of standoff

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NAIROBI (Reuters) -South Sudanese forces loyal to President Salva Kiir continued to round up allies of First Vice President Riek Machar on Thursday, arresting the peacebuilding minister in an escalation of a dispute church leaders warned could lead to a new civil war.

“The National Security Service (NSS) has struck again, arresting Hon. Stephen Par Kuol … from his office a few minutes ago,” Machar’s spokesperson, Puok Both Baluang, said on X.

Earlier this week, security forces arrested the petroleum minister, the deputy head of the army and other senior military officials allied with Machar.

The arrests followed intense fighting in the northern Upper Nile State between national forces and the White Army militia, a loosely-organized group mostly comprising armed Nuer, Machar’s ethnic group.

The government has not commented on the arrests, but Information Minister Michael Makuei on Wednesday accused forces loyal to Machar of collaborating with the White Army to attack a military garrison near the Upper Nile town of Nasir earlier this week.

The White Army fought alongside Machar’s forces in the 2013-2018 civil war that pitted them against predominantly ethnic Dinka troops loyal to Kiir.

An estimated 400,000 people were killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes during the war, which broke out just two years after South Sudan gained independence from Sudan.

A peace deal struck in 2018 has mostly prevented outright fighting between Kiir and Machar’s forces, though localized violence routinely flares up and the civil war in Sudan has increased armed groups’ access to weapons.

Kuol, the peacebuilding minister, was among the politicians involved in the 2018 negotiations.

In a statement on Thursday, church leaders deplored “escalating insecurity, political tensions and violence that threaten the peace”, and called for dialogue.

Daniel Akech Thiong, senior analyst on South Sudan at the International Crisis Group, said the ongoing arrests “indicate a serious escalation, likely prompting armed groups linked to the opposition to respond with attacks on government bases in Upper Nile and Jonglei states.”

Last year, the government postponed to December 2026 long-delayed national elections meant to install an elected government, saying more time was needed to prepare the polls.

(Writing by Ammu Kannampilly and Aaron Ross; Editing by Toby Chopra and Aidan Lewis)