Nicholas Haysom described indiscriminate attacks on civilians, mass displacement and rising ethnic tensions in the press briefing.

He urged all parties in South Sudan to pull back from the brink and commit to peace before the country plunges into another devastating conflict.

“A conflict would erase all the hard-won gains made since the 2018 peace deal was signed. It would devastate not only South Sudan but the entire region, which simply cannot afford another war,” he warned.

Haysom’s warning comes after the Chairman of U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jim Risch said South Sudan was close to renewed war and President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar bear direct responsibility for the conflict.

Violent clashes erupted in Nasir on March 4 between SSPDF and heavily armed local youths, who overran a military base and later killed an army commander and a United Nations pilot during evacuation efforts.

In response, government forces launched retaliatory aerial bombardments on civilian areas, using barrel bombs that allegedly contained highly flammable accelerants.

“These indiscriminate attacks on civilians are causing significant casualties and horrific injuries, especially burns, including to women and children,” Mr. Haysom said, adding that at least 63,000 people have fled the area.

The peacekeeping chief said there are reports of mobilization between armed youth and SSPDF for further confrontations, adding that deployment of foreign forces at the request of the government has further heightened tensions.

“Given this grim situation, we are left with no other conclusion, but to assess that South Sudan is teetering on the edge of a relapse into civil war,” Haysom warned.

He urged South Sudan’s leaders to immediately recommit to the 2018 peace deal, respect the ceasefire, release detained officials and resolve disputes through dialogue rather than military confrontation.

He also called for President Kiir and First Vice President Machar to meet and publicly reaffirm their joint commitment to peace.

“The time for action is now because the alternative is too terrible to contemplate.”