The Arrest of Riek Machar Threatens to Collapse South Sudan’s Peace Agreement

In a dramatic escalation of tensions in South Sudan, opposition leaders have declared that the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar on Wednesday evening by forces loyal to President Salva Kiir is a blatant violation of the 2018 peace agreement, rendering it “null and void.”

Machar’s party issued a statement condemning the arrest, calling it “a breach of trust, a lack of respect for the agreement, and a clear indication that there is no political will to ensure peace and stability in the country.”

Speaking in a video statement on Wednesday night, opposition spokesperson Pal Mai Deng confirmed that Machar was “being held by the government” and that his life was “in danger.”

In response, the United Nations urged all parties in South Sudan to adhere to the 2018 peace deal, which ended a brutal five-year civil war that claimed nearly 400,000 lives. Nicholas Haysom, the head of the UN mission in South Sudan, emphasized the need for “restraint and commitment to the revitalized peace agreement.”

These developments come amid growing hostilities between President Kiir’s party and Machar’s faction. Tensions peaked in February when the armed group known as the “White Army,” loyal to Machar, seized a military base in Upper Nile State and attacked a UN helicopter. The government responded with airstrikes, warning civilians to leave the area or “face the consequences.”

South Sudan’s civil war, which lasted five years, officially ended with the 2018 peace agreement, forming a unity government between Kiir and Machar. However, the recent arrest and ongoing clashes threaten to dismantle the fragile peace and push the country back into conflict.