President
Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar face increasing pressure from
civil society, regional, and international groups to end the escalating
UPDF-backed SSPDF bombardment in the Upper Nile region, which is claiming lives,
displacing the civil population, and disrupting basic services, including
healthcare.
According to the executive director of Community Empowerment for Progress, President Kiir should order a halt to the bombardment in
the Upper Nile Region.
“I call upon
His Excellency the President to stop the continuous airstrikes on Nasir and
other locations. If the violence continues for one more week, the chances of it
turning into a full-scale war and proxy war involving multiple foreign actors
will increase,” Yakani stated.
Yakani
asserts that President Kiir and First Vice President Machar bear primary
responsibility for halting the violence immediately and should be held
accountable for the ongoing conflict.
For the past
three weeks, fighting between government forces (SSPDF) and the White Army has
intensified over the SSPDF’s plan to redeploy forces to replace those in Nasir
for the past eight years, with the White Army opposing the ununified force.
The conflict
has claimed several civilian lives, a UN helicopter crew member, and SSPDF Maj.
Gen. David Majur Dak, prompting the government to request military intervention
from Uganda.
Since the
arrival of the UPDF to support the SSPDF, the government has been bombing Nasir
and Longuchek counties in Upper Nile State, as well as Akobo County in Jonglei
State.
On Wednesday,
Nasir town experienced renewed bombardment as the South Sudan People’s Defense
Forces (SSPDF) and the Ugandan People’s Defense Force (UPDF) launched another
attack on the area.
Nasir County
Commissioner Gatluak Lew Thiep told Radio Community that the renewed bombing
targeting his compound affected a mother and her child.
“The gunship
dropped another four bombs on my compound; they actually targeted my compound,
where the other four chemical barrels were found. As we speak, it burned the
market. It also burned the commissioner's compound,” Lew said.
The Nasir
conflict between government forces and the White Army allied to Machar has
intensified tensions between President Kiir and Dr. Machar, with Machar’s
allies being detained and arrested, further threatening the 2018 peace
agreement.
In protest of
the detention of its officials, the SPLM/A-IO has already pulled out of
political and security mechanisms until they are unconditionally released.
In a joint
statement on Tuesday, Western embassies offered to facilitate urgent dialogue
between Kiir and Machar to restore peace in the country and prevent a relapse
into civil war.
The conflict
in Nasir, Upper Nile State, has displaced 50,000 people since late February,
with 10,000 fleeing to Ethiopia, according to Anita Kiki Gbeho, the United
Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan.