SOUTH SUDAN ‘Clashes pushing country closer to war’

An east African regional bloc warned on Wednesday that recent clashes in South Sudan were pushing the country “ever closer to the brink of war”. Throughout its short history, the impoverished nation has been plagued by political instability and insecurity, but concerns have risen in the past weeks after clashes between forces allied to the […]

An east African regional bloc warned on Wednesday that recent clashes in South Sudan were pushing the country “ever closer to the brink of war”.

Throughout its short history, the impoverished nation has been plagued by political instability and insecurity, but concerns have risen in the past weeks after clashes between forces allied to the country’s rival leaders in the northeast.

Tensions spiked last week when a United Nations helicopter attempting to rescue soldiers from the region was attacked and a UN crew member and South Sudanese general killed, with President Salva Kiir pledging the country would not return to war.

The clashes have threatened 2018’s fragile power-sharing deal, which ended a five-year civil war between Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa said the violence was the latest in a series of incidents that were “pushing South Sudan ever closer to the brink of war”.