South Sudan Arrests Key Machar Allies as Army Surrounds His Home
Arrests of Key Figures Loyal to Machar Heighten Tensions and Threaten Fragile Peace Agreement
- South Sudanese forces have arrested several high-ranking officials loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar
- The reasons for the arrests have not been disclosed
- The arrests are the latest development in a growing political crisis.
South Sudanese forces have arrested several high-ranking officials loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar, including the country’s Petroleum Minister and the Deputy Army Chief, amid rising tensions surrounding the capital, Juba.
General Gabriel Duop Lam, the Deputy Army Chief and a prominent supporter of Machar, was taken into custody on Tuesday.
The following day, Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol was arrested along with his bodyguards and family members.
The reasons for the arrests have not been disclosed, but they came shortly after an armed group allied to Machar seized control of an army base in Upper Nile state, located in the north of the country.
The arrests are the latest development in a growing political crisis. Machar, whose political rivalry with President Salva Kiir led to a brutal civil war, warned last month that the dismissal of his allies from key government posts posed a serious threat to the 2018 peace agreement between the two leaders.
That agreement, which ended a five-year civil war that claimed over 400,000 lives, is now under increased strain.
Water Minister Pal Mai Deng, spokesperson for Machar’s SPLM-IO party, stated that Lam’s arrest jeopardizes the peace deal.
“This action undermines the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan and paralyzes the Joint Defence Board, which is crucial for the command and control of all forces. This puts the entire agreement at risk,” Deng said in a statement.
