Clashes in South Sudan threaten to undo progress
A helicopter crash in the world’s youngest country, South Sudan, has led to the death of one crew member as a United Nations mission aimed to rescue soldiers from a worsening situation in the country.
According to the New Arab on March 8th, the power-sharing agreement between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar has been threatened by clashes in the Upper Nile State.
It was in the Upper Nile State that the helicopter crash occurred.
According to the UN Mission in South Sudan, one crew member was killed and two others were injured in the crash, along with an army general who also died in the incident.
South Sudan was birthed as a nation after a bitter civil war finally ended in 2018.
Kiir and Machar signed a power-sharing agreement that has maintained a delicate government for nearly seven years.
However, allies of Kiir have accused Machar and his allies of stoking anger and unrest in Nasir County, a region in the Upper Nile State.
They claim that Machar is in league with the White Army, a group of armed youths who share the same ethnicity as Machar.
Kiir has pleaded for calm and stressed that there is no need for the country to return to war.
However, Yasmin Sooka – the chair of the UN commission – has said that South Sudan is “witnessing an alarming regression that could release years of hard-won progress.”
Sooka urged leaders to not be “fueling division and conflict”, instead leaders must “urgently refocus on the peace process, uphold the human rights of South Sudanese citizens, and ensure a smooth transition to democracy.”
The African Union has also expressed serious concern at the worsening situation and condemned the violent escalation.
The fear from the international community is that South Sudan could slip back into the state of affairs that saw the country suffer under years of violent civil war.
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