NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday urged both South Sudan’s leadership and the international community to act swiftly to prevent further devastation in the war-torn country, warning that ethnic and political targeting by security forces could spiral into a broader regional conflict.
Referring to the escalating violence in South Sudan, including airstrikes on civilians, Guterres said: “All the dark clouds of a perfect storm have descended upon the people of the world’s newest country — and one of the poorest.”
On Wednesday, an armed convoy led by the nation’s top security officials, including its defense minister, entered the home of First Vice President Riek Machar in Juba, disarmed his bodyguards and placed him under house arrest.
Tensions between Machar and President Salva Kiir had been worsening for several weeks. In August 2018, the two leaders reached a peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war between their forces, which had resulted in almost 400,000 deaths.
However, In the seven years since, their relationship has grown more strained due to ethnic conflicts and occasional outbreaks of violence. Machar’s party said his detention effectively signaled the collapse of the peace deal.
This week, the UN reported that barrel bombs thought to contain highly flammable liquid were used in airstrikes during clashes between the army and a rebel group formerly associated with Machar.
Speaking to reporters in New York, Guterres said that “the peace agreement is in shambles,” and called for the immediate release of all detained officials and the full restoration of the Government of National Unity, which he described as crucial to moving toward peace.
“The Horn of Africa is already in turmoil and cannot afford another conflict,” he warned, “and nor can the people of South Sudan.”
Directly addressing the South Sudanese leadership, Guterres said: “End the politics of confrontation. Release detained military and civilian officials now. Fully restore the Government of National Unity. And vigorously implement the promises you made through your commitments to the peace agreement — which is the only legal framework to peaceful, free and fair elections in December 2026.”
The humanitarian situation in South Sudan is alarming, with almost 75 percent of the population requiring aid and at least half facing severe food insecurity. A cholera outbreak is adding to the crisis.
Over 1 million refugees have fled to neighboring countries, primarily Sudan, since fighting erupted. Guterres also noted a catastrophic economic collapse, with oil revenues plummeting and inflation soaring to 300 percent.
With the world’s youngest country facing such dire circumstances, the UN secretary-general warned of the potential for a repeat of the civil wars in 2013 and 2016.
Guterres called for renewed diplomatic efforts, emphasizing the need for dialogue and de-escalation.
“South Sudan is at a crossroads,” he said. “For the sake of the long-suffering people, it is time for all parties to put down the weapons and focus on rebuilding the country.”
The UN chief said that he had spoken with the chairperson of the African Union Commission and expressed strong support for the AU’s initiative to deploy the “Panel of the Wise” and for continuing efforts by Kenyan President William Ruto’s special envoy.
Despite the urgency of the situation, Guterres lamented that South Sudan has largely faded from international attention. He pleaded for increased diplomatic and financial support to address the mounting crisis.
“The people of South Sudan are close to my heart. They had enormous hopes and aspirations, but sadly, they have not had the leadership they deserve.”
There have been increasing international calls for a unified stance on the peace process in South Sudan, with the UN, AU, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development trade bloc all urging the restoration of peace and stability.

KHARTOUM: Residents of Sudan’s Tuti island at the confluence of the Blue Nile and White Nile have emerged from paramilitary control to speak of hardships suffered and relief that their oppressors have been driven away.
They say Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, who have been forced by the army off the island between the capital Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman, would block people from medical treatment, jail others and extort inhabitants.
“I suffered from severe urinary retention,” recalled elderly islander Omar Al-Hassan, saying an RSF member stopped him from crossing a bridge to see doctors.
“He claimed our papers were incomplete, but we had all the necessary documents. He just wanted money.”
The RSF, whose war with the army erupted in April 2023 and which still controls swathes of west Sudan, did not respond to a request for comment by Reuters. The RSF has either denied it violates human rights or said it would hold perpetrators to account, while accusing the army of widespread abuses.
The UN accuses both sides in the civil war of abuses that may amount to war crimes.
Tuti island, with its green landscape overlooking the majestic Nile waters, was once one of Sudan’s most soothing spots, offering relaxation in a nation with a long history of war.
Its population of about 10,000 could relax on beaches near lemon trees swaying in the breeze. People would also pass time at coffee shops, puffing on water pipes, perhaps discussing Sudan’s complex, combustible politics.
That was before the conflict between the army and RSF — once partners in a coup that toppled veteran autocrat Omar Hassan Al-Bashir — erupted and ravaged Sudan.

’TUTI IS FREE’
Now, in a microcosm of the war’s devastation, Tuti’s close-knit farming community are at risk of famine and have been ravaged by dengue fever.
Sudan’s military, headed by career army officer Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan claimed control of Khartoum, including Tuti island, this week.
“We conducted a thorough and comprehensive cleanup of all areas of the island ... We tell the people to return and come back,” said soldier Al-Tahir Al-Tayeb.
“We will only take our rights by this,” he added, tapping on his gun. “We say to them, Tuti is free, and God is great.”
Nearby, a woman walked by a shop surveying destruction as people lingered at a mosque.
RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, rose from lowly beginnings to head a widely feared Arab militia that crushed a revolt in Darfur, winning him influence and eventually a role as the country’s second most powerful man, and one of its richest, as an enforcer for Bashir.
The RSF, menacing young men armed with rocket-propelled grenades and machine-guns mounted on trucks, mastered desert warfare in the Darfur region but lack the discipline of the regular army.
That was clear on Tuti island, said resident Abdul Fattah Abdullah, describing how RSF men followed him on four motorcycles and grabbed him as he was carrying vegetables from a market.
The next 20 days, locked up in a small room with 32 army officers, were the hardest in his whole life, he complained. It did not end there. RSF fighters demanded the equivalent of $400, he said.
“They harassed people, demanding either their gold or their money. May God punish them,” said Abdullah.