President Salva Kiir and Dr Reik Machar - Courtesy

Regional and international pressure is mounting on South Sudan’s leaders to ease tension and rescue the country from sliding back to civil war, following outbreak of deadly violence in Upper Nile State and other regions.

Kenyan President William Ruto said on Thursday he spoke with President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar about the escalating security situation – which happens only weeks after an extended transitional period officially took effect to implement the 2018 peace deal.

In statement on his official social media platforms, President Ruto said he informed the South Sudanese leaders that regional consultations to determine the way forward for the situation is underway.

“I implored both leaders to engage in dialogue towards fostering peace in the country even as the region works towards stabilization of South Sudan under the IGAD’s strategic framework,” he said.

Violent clashes erupted in Nasir on March 4 between SSPDF and heavily armed local youths, threatening to derail gains made in the 2018 peace agreement which ended five years of devastating civil war.

The conflict erupted barely hours after a high-level presidency meeting chaired by President Kiir and attended by First Vice President Machar and other vice presidents, resolved to ease tension in the region.

In Juba, some top SPLM-IO ministers and officers including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang and Deputy Chief of Defense Force Duop Lam have been detained for allegedly being in conflict with the law.

The opposition group has called for the release of its political and military detainees who it said were “arbitrarily arrested”.

– Calls for peace –

The Kenyan President is not the first foreign official to voice his concern about the fragile security situation in South Sudan.

On March 5, the ambassadors of IGAD countries in Juba expressed deep concern over violence and appealed to the transitional government to address the insecurities.

In a joint statement, the ambassadors of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda said they were alarmed by “the recent reports of escalating tensions and armed clashes” in Nasir.

This situation, the diplomats said, threatens to undermine the hard-won gains achieved in the 2018 accord, and exacerbates the already dire humanitarian situation in the country.

“We call upon all the Parties and their affiliate groups to immediately cease hostilities and exercise maximum restraint,” it stated.

“We emphasize the paramount importance of upholding the Permanent Ceasefire and adhering to the provisions of the revitalized peace agreement.”

Western diplomatic missions in South Sudan also said they “deplored” the hostilities in Upper Nile and raised concerns about the detention of political and military officials in Juba, urging all parties to exercise maximum restraint.

Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union, said they are shocked by the hostilities which included significant loss of life.

They added that the country’s political leaders must demonstrate commitment to peaceful dialogue and put the people’s interest before their own.

The South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) has written to president Kiir to urgently address mounting hostilities across the country and ensure political detainees arrested are released for the sake of peace.

– No going back to war –

Addressing the media on March 5, Information Minister Michael Makuei dismissed fears that the current tension in Nasir County could lead to all-out war in South Sudan.

Hon. Makuei reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the peace process, reiterating President Kiir’s earlier remarks that he would not allow the country to return to civil war.

“We are not taking people back to the war. This is why we are talking. Otherwise, we were going to work in silence if that was too mean taking people back war and refrain from calling on anybody to do whatever we think is correct,” he said.

“Our president had committed himself so many times, once and every time, that I will not take you back to war.”

Makuei stated that the government was working to contain the unrest in Nasir and Ulang and called upon the public to refrain from circulating and consuming illicit social media contents that incites furtherance of skirmishes.

In January 2025, violent conflicts raged in Nagero County in Western Equatoria State between the SSPDF and SPLA-IO over the dismantling of checkpoints and roadblocks, displacing thousands of people including those who fled the crisis in Tambura.

Violence was also reported in Jur River County in Western Bahr el Ghazal State between the SSPDF and SPLA-IO.

The UN Mission in South Sudan expressed concerns over the military confrontation between units of the national army and SPLA-IO in Western Equatoria and called for national government intervention.

A human rights activist also appealed to the Presidency to urgently initiate the unification and deployment of armed forces of the peace parties and ensure strict cantonment to prevent further violence.

Bol Deng Bol, Executive Director of INTREPID South Sudan, said unifying the forces is the only solution to the intermittent violence involving factions of the peace parties across the country.