South Sudan on brink of renewed civil war, UN warns
Building tension and violence threatens to unravel the peace deal that halted ethnic conflict in 2018.
Published On 25 Mar 202525 Mar 2025
South Sudan is on the brink of a renewed civil war as violence between rival factions escalates, the United Nations has warned.
The situation in the country is “dire” said Nicholas Haysom, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), late on Monday, as tension between forces allied with President Salva Kiir and those of Vice President Riek Machar continues to build.
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Efforts to negotiate a peace deal would only be possible if Kiir and Machar were able to “put the interests of their people ahead of their own,” the UN official noted, warning that disinformation and hate speech are stirring ethnic hatred and provoking increasing violence that has displaced tens of thousands.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, fell into a bloody civil war soon after gaining independence in 2011, as forces aligned with Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fought those loyal to Machar, an ethnic Nuer.
The conflict killed more than 40,000 people before a 2018 peace deal saw the pair form a government of national unity. However, tension has flared once more.