The opposing factions in South Sudan’s civil war traded accusations on Saturday over violations of a ceasefire agreement that was supposed to be in force beginning at midnight. The spokesman for the SPLA IO said government forces working with militia groups launched an attack against the opposition in Wau state…
The long-awaited meeting between President Salva Kiir of South Sudan and his exiled rival, Riek Machar, appeared to go well on Wednesday but few details have yet been released about the substance of their talks. Kiir and Machar, the former vice president who broke away from the administration and formed the…
In South Africa, exiled South Sudanese opposition leader Riek Machar acknowledged meeting with former Kenyan presidential candidate Raila Odinga, but it remains to be seen if Machar will participate in direct peace negotiations with President Salva Kiir. “I have had a fruitful discussion with Hon. Raila Odinga in the quest…
Another 200 children were released by armed groups in South Sudan this week, bringing the total of such releases to 806 this year. They came primarily from the SPLA-IO opposition group, with eight of them associated with the National Salvation Front (NSF). “Every a time a child is released and…
In South Sudan, 311 child soldiers have been released by armed groups, the United Nations mission in the country said Wednesday. The group including 87 girls marks the first phase of a program at Yambio, in the southwest part of the country, to secure the release of more than 700…
The violations of South Sudan’s ceasefire agreement, as well as new reports on sexual violence and the recruitment of child soldiers, drew a strongly worded warning Thursday from the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) ministerial council. The ceasefire agreement in the four-year civil war went into effect December 24…
Ongoing violations of South Sudan’s ceasefire agreement have prompted the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to speak out in concern, and now the troika governments of the United Kingdom, United States and Norway have joined them. South Sudanese leaders agreed to a ceasefire on December 21 following negotiations with IGAD,…
South Sudanese leaders on both sides of the nation’s civil war say a truce supposed to go into effect on December 24 has been breached. The opposition SPLA-IO said in a press statement that government forces launched a 6 a.m. attack against their fighters in Koch County, with additional reports…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
South Sudan has marked its July 9 anniversary of independence, but with no formal observances in a land with far too little to celebrate. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said at least 25 humanitarian aid workers from different organizations were evacuated from the Pagak region, a…
A spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) has called on the United Nations to investigate the activities of the UN mandate in South Sudan, while charging the UN with supporting South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his government. In a statement issued by SPLA-IO spokesman William Gatjliath Deng,…
United Nations experts have asked Kenya and South Sudan to provide information about two South Sudanese men abducted from the streets of Nairobi three weeks ago. Dong Samuel Luak, a South Sudanese refugee and human rights advocate seen in the left photo, was in downtown Nairobi heading to catch a…
The head of the commission responsible for overseeing South Sudan’s peace and political agreements said Wednesday that he is dismayed by escalating conflict that prevents their implementation, while exacting a heavy toll in humanitarian terms. “Over the past three months there have been increasing reports of targeted and revenge killings,…
A spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) said government forces have launched new attacks in Eastern Equatoria state, where South Sudanese forces are accusing civilians of being rebels or their supporters. Colonel William Gatjiath Deng, the official spokesperson for the SPLA-IO, said in a statement that surprise…