Key military figure arrested in South Sudan, risking peace deal

South Sudanese forces have arrested a senior military official allied with first vice president Riek Machar and deployed troops around his residence, risking a seven-year-old deal that ended a civil war, his spokesperson said according to Reuters on March 5th.

The country has been at peace since the 2018 agreement brought to an end a five-year conflict between Machar and president Salva Kiir that killed hundreds of thousands, although violence between rival communities regularly flares up.

On March 3rd, the head of South Sudan’s defence forces General Paul Nang arrested a deputy, Lieutenant General Gabriel Doup Lam, while security forces surrounded Machar’s residence, spokesperson for Machar, Pal Mai Deng, said in a statement late on the same day.

Reuters