By Lucy Adautin
South Sudan’s army says it has retaken control of a key town in Upper Nile state, which had fallen to an ethnic Nuer militia in March during clashes that led to the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar and triggered a deepening political crisis.
President Salva Kiir has been part of a fragile power-sharing government with Machar since a 2018 peace agreement ended a civil war between their rival forces, a conflict that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Machar’s detention under house arrest, accused of attempting to incite rebellion through his alleged support for the White Army militia in Upper Nile, has raised international concerns over the risk of renewed ethnic violence.
Spokespersons for both the military and the White Army, whom Machar’s party denies supporting said the town of Nasir was recaptured on Sunday without resistance.
“We were just conducting a tactical withdrawal,” said Honson Chuol James, a spokesperson for the White Army, noting that 17 people were killed in heavy bombardment of the nearby village of Thuluc.
Army spokesperson Lul Ruai Koang stated that military forces were able to avoid an ambush in Thuluc due to effective air support.
“They were spotted while assembling, and were then fired upon, causing them to scatter,” Koang said.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni visited Kiir earlier this month after deploying troops to help secure South Sudan’s capital, Juba, amid rising political tensions.
Uganda’s military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Museveni’s son has claimed that his troops have since killed 1,500 White Army fighters, who had previously fought alongside Machar’s forces during the civil war.
Earlier this month, signs of division emerged within Machar’s SPLM-IO party. One faction announced that it had temporarily replaced him as party chairman, while the armed wing reaffirmed its loyalty to the detained leader.
