36000 people displaced in South Sudan

A ceasefire in South Sudan’s capital Juba appears to be “largely holding, barring sporadic gunfire” and United Nations peacekeepers were able to carry out a limited number of short patrols on Tuesday, a UN spokesman said in NY at the United Nations.

According to BBC, Juba has had no reports of tanks in the streets or helicopter gunships since the ceasefire. A short-lived peace deal broke down just as the world’s newest nation entered its fifth year of independence, after splitting from Sudan following decades of civil war.

Much is unclear, however, about the latest violence in Juba, including what the objective of either side has been and how much control Kiir and Machar have over their forces. That war exposed deep ethnic fault lines, pitting the Dinka supporters of Kiir against the Nuer followers of Machar.

He said that many thousands of displaced people have sought sanctuary in church compounds – including Bishop Arkanjelo Wani Lemi, Presiding Bishop of the Africa Inland Church. Oil production, by far the biggest source of government revenue, has plummeted.

Central African Republic is riven by conflict, the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is contending with a patchwork of militias and rebel groups, and Burundi is embroiled in a violent political crisis.

Ambassador Smail Chergui, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security said that a meeting of IGAD foreign ministers and the Peace and Security Council was scheduled to take place on Monday evening. “I also urge all countries contributing to UNMISS to stand their ground. I’m safe. No one should take laws in their own hands to destabilise this country”, he added. The JMEC had no immediate comment.

While foreign governments move quickly to evacuate their nationals from South Sudan where fighting threatens to plunge the country back into civil war, Kenya is being accused of deserting its citizens.

The UN’s mission in South Sudan has been criticised for not fulfilling its mandate to protect civilians, both in Malakal and Juba.

“There is a general realization and calculation by those generals against peace that the United Nations and the entire global community is reduced to issuing mere statements that have no impact on ground”, Biel says, “Thus words without actions have encouraged impunity”.

The violence has raised fears of a collapse of a almost one-year-old peace deal that was supposed to end two years of ethnically charged civil war between Kiir and Machar’s supporters. The government forces also attacked a United Nations peacekeeping base and camp for civilians who fled the violence.

Regional leaders discussed on how the ongoing power struggle in South Sudan can be resolved and how the two factions can be reined in to end the hostilities which have reportedly claimed over 270 people.

“Machar is committed to implementation of the peace agreement”.

The two men finally announced a ceasefire late on Monday.

The Ugandan army fought alongside Salva Kiir’s forces at the start of the civil war in 2013.