Juba, South Sudan: South Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar has been placed under house arrest over murder and treason charges following a deadly militia attack in March that left 250 soldiers and a general dead in Nasir, sparking fears of renewed conflict in the fragile nation.
Justice Minister Joseph Geng Akech confirmed that the assault was carried out by the White Ant militia, a group with alleged ties to Machar and composed largely of fighters from his Nuer ethnic group. The attack destroyed a key army base and downed a UN helicopter, killing its pilot, further escalating tensions in a country still scarred by years of civil war.
Military forces have now cordoned off the roads leading to Machar’s residence in Juba, underscoring the gravity of the accusations and raising concerns of fresh instability. International actors, including the United Nations and the African Union, have called for calm as the legal process unfolds.
South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011, has endured repeated cycles of violence. Civil war broke out in 2013 between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and Machar, a conflict that claimed nearly 400,000 lives before a shaky 2018 peace deal restored relative calm.
The fresh allegations against Machar threaten to unravel that fragile stability, reigniting ethnic and political divisions.
Machar has not yet commented on the charges, but political observers warn that his prosecution could act as a flashpoint for unrest, testing the country’s fragile peace.
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