{"id":53265,"date":"2025-03-06T07:29:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T07:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/tensions-rise-as-south-sudan-arrests-machar-s-top-allies\/"},"modified":"2025-03-06T07:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T07:29:09","slug":"tensions-rise-as-south-sudan-arrests-machar-s-top-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/tensions-rise-as-south-sudan-arrests-machar-s-top-allies\/","title":{"rendered":"Tensions rise as South Sudan arrests Machar\u2019s top allies"},"content":{"rendered":"

The arrests follow heavy clashes in Nasir, a strategic northern town, between government troops and the White Army militia, a loosely organized group mainly composed of armed Nuer fighters, Machar\u2019s ethnic group.<\/p>\n

The White Army previously fought alongside Machar\u2019s forces during the 2013-2018 civil war. Minister Chol, a native of Nasir, was detained alongside Deputy Army Chief Gabriel Doup Lam.<\/p>\n

Other military officials aligned with Machar were placed under house arrest. Baluang, stated that no explanation had been provided for their arrests.<\/p>\n

In a worrying development, South Sudanese troops were also stationed around Machar\u2019s residence. However, Baluang confirmed that Machar was still able to leave his home and report to his office, despite the increasing political tension.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s Information Minister, Michael Makuei, has not responded to inquiries regarding the arrests but promised to address the issue in a press conference. This lack of immediate clarification has further fueled uncertainty and speculation across the country.<\/p>\n

South Sudan\u2019s civil war, which erupted in 2013, just two years after the country gained independence, resulted in 400,000 deaths and displaced 2.5 million people. While the 2018 peace deal ended large-scale fighting, tensions between Kiir and Machar’s factions remain high.<\/p>\n

Witnesses reported an attack in Nasir\u2019s central square where a grenade, allegedly aimed at a convoy carrying rebel leaders, failed to hit its target. The African Union and United Nations recently warned that rising violence in the region could spiral out of control.<\/p>\n

Political analysts fear the arrests could reignite conflict. Ter Manyang, director of the Centre for Peace and Advocacy, warned that without intervention from South Sudan\u2019s top leadership, the country risks descending back into war, endangering its fragile peace efforts.<\/p>\n

\"Petroleum<\/figure>\n
\"The<\/figure>\n
\"Riek<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Sudanese forces have arrested Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol and senior military officials loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar. Machar\u2019s spokesperson, Puok Both Baluang warned that these arrests threaten the fragile peace agreement that ended the country\u2019s devastating civil war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":2000083110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-53265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000083110,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-382.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-382.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-382.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-382.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-382.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/profile-382.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000083110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53265"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=53265"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=53265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}