The violence in Nasir erupts a day after a presidency meeting agreed to ease tension in the region.

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

The call comes as the conflict in Nasir between the army and alleged armed youths threatens to derail gains made in the 2018 peace agreement which ended five years of devastating civil war.

Violent clashes erupted on Tuesday barely hours after a high-level Presidency meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir and attended by First Vice President Riek Machar and other vice presidents, resolved to ease tension in the region.

The Embassies of 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.

“We are also concerned by reports of detentions of senior military and civilian officials,” they said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

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

“We join our IGAD counterparts in calling for immediate cessation of hostilities and for all parties and their affiliates to exercise maximum restraint. Juba-based leaders must demonstrate their commitment to peaceful dialogue and should put the interest of the South Sudanese people first.”

Local youth known as White Army attacked SSPDF garrison in Nasir on Tuesday, overrunning it and forcing army soldiers to withdraw, Information Minister Michael Makuei confirmed in a press briefing.

The Government Spokesperson also confirmed the arrests of some senior SPLM-IO officials and officers including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang and Deputy CDF Duop Lam for allegedly being “in conflict with the law.”

The information minister also said the armed youth were loyal to the SPLA-IO because they were chanting the “VIVA” slogan, but the opposition’s military spokesperson Col. Lam Paul Gabriel denied the accusations, saying the group has no base in Nasir.

Meanwhile, SPLM-IO has called for the release of several of its members who it said were “arbitrarily arrested”, and appealed to South Sudan peace partners to intervene to prevent the country from “descending into violence.”