South Sudan: A forgotten conflict?
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South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar has returned to the country for the first time in more than two years - as part of a peace deal.
His spokesman told the BBC Mr Machar was now at rebel military headquarters in the eastern town of Pagak.
He is expected in the capital Juba next week to resume the post of vice-president as part of last year's deal.
The deadly civil conflict erupted in 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused Mr Machar of plotting a coup.
Since then thousands of people have died and more than two million have been displaced.
Mistrust
Mr Machar's spokesman told the BBC on Tuesday that the rebel leader was in Pagak, near the border with Ethiopia.
He is expected in Juba on Monday, while his deputy leader Alfred Ladu Gore is already in the capital.
Last week, more than 1,300 rebel troops were flown to Juba as part of the terms of the peace deal signed in August 2015.
These forces are deployed to provide security for Mr Machar, who said he would not come to take up his new position until these security measures were put into place.
Peace agreements between both sides have broken down repeatedly over the years, so there is still expected to be mistrust within this new government, the BBC's Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo reports.
But the people of South Sudan have seen enough calamity and can only hope this transitional government gets things right this time, our correspondent adds.
The peace agreement was signed amid a threat of sanctions from the United Nations.
Fighting was supposed to stop immediately - but there have been frequent violations.
President Kiir and Mr Machar also agreed to share out ministerial positions. The agreement returns the government to where it was before the war broke out.
Conflict on the ground continues to take its toll on civilians despite the peace deal
--------------------------
The UN and African Union have accused both sides of carrying out atrocities - an AU-backed report in January alleged that 50 civilians had suffocated after government troops locked them in a shipping container.
South Sudan is the world's youngest country and one of the least developed. It split from Sudan in 2011.
South Sudan: The world's youngest country
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OP: The following article is a little older, but still relevant and provides pretty good background information on this.
------------------------------------South Sudan marks two years of ruinous war
Conflict rages on despite ceasefire deal, leaving more than one million displaced and four million severely hungry.
South Sudan on Tuesday marked two years since the start of a war that has forced one million people from their homes and left four million hungry as politicians broke at least eight commitments to peace.
The country descended into conflict in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar, who he had sacked earlier that year, of plotting a coup.
The clashes that followed set off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the world's newest country, which won its independence from Sudan in 2011, along ethnic lines.
As President Kiir - from the Dinka ethnic group - fought it out with rebels allied to Machar - a Nuer - both sides committed atrocities, including massacres and gang rape, according to the UN and the African Union.
Thousands of child soldiers have fought in the conflict, used as foot soldiers by both government and opposition forces, the US-based Human Rights Watch said.
Both sides have repeatedly accused each other of breaking a ceasefire that was agreed to in August, and a key deadline for Machar to return to the capital from his base in the bush was missed last month.
Refugee camps
Even with thousands of people sheltering inside UN camps across the country, many are still cut off from food and medical care, especially in the north near the border with Sudan.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from a UN camp in the north, Dr Austin Ombija, an official with the International Organization for Migration, said the camps were overcrowded and lacked basic healthcare facilities.
"We have to deal with a lot more patients than what we were envisioned to support. That causes a strain on us in terms of supplies, in terms of staffing, in terms of space that we use for constructing our facilities."
Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan, reporting from Juba, said aid groups in South Sudan described conditions in the camps as deplorable.
"Many families are living in small spaces, with limited access to clean water and not enough food," she said. "Aid organisations here may differ in the role they play and the services they deliver, but they all agree on one thing: The people need peace and stability to be able to return home and resume their lives.
"Lives have been put on hold for two years, and may be put on hold for longer if the peace signed more than three months ago is not put into practice."
Since the start of the war, at least eight ceasefires or power-sharing deals have been broken. Kiir and Machar have traded accusations over the failed agreements but both say they are committed to the current accord despite missing every listed deadline.
Analysts say the conflict involves multiple militias - allied to Machar or Kiir - who pay little heed to paper peace deals and are often driven by local agendas or revenge attacks.
Broken promises: A timeline of ceasefires and deals
- 2014 -
January 23: Celebrations as Kiir and Machar sign their first ceasefire, agreed in Ethiopia and mediated by East Africa's regional IGAD bloc. It is broken shortly after.
May 9: Kiir and Machar pray together, as mediators in Addis Ababa hail a deal "ending the war".
August 25: Amid sanction warnings, Kiir and Machar ink another ceasefire in Addis Ababa, along with a deal to forge a unity government within 45 days.
October 20: In the Tanzanian town of Arusha, Kiir and Machar accept "collective responsibility" for the war, and call again for peace.
November 8: An "unconditional, complete and immediate end to all hostilities" is agreed by the rivals in Addis Ababa. It lasts a few hours.
- 2015 -
January 21: Kiir and Machar promise to make a "public apology" for the war and recommit to a ceasefire.
February 1: Another ceasefire commitment, and a deadline set for March 5 to agree on a final peace deal and establish a transitional government.
June 27: Kiir and Machar meet for five hours in Kenya, but sign no deal.
August 26: Under intense international pressure, Kiir signs a peace deal he calls a "reward for rebellion". Machar signed it on August 17.
October 3: Kiir undermines a fundamental pillar of the power-sharing deal by ordering the number of regional states be nearly tripled.
November 24: The deadline for a rebel delegation - including Machar - to return to Juba and begin work as part of a "transitional government of national unity" is missed.
December 15: Low-level fighting continues in northern and southwestern parts of the country.
(Timeline by AFP)
--------------------------------------
SOURCE 2.
More sources on this:
-Additional source #1.
-Additional source #2.
-Additional source #3.
-Additional source #4.
-Additional source #5.
--------------------------------------
OP: This is a devastating conflict which has been really underreported in the western media, as far as I can see. Or at least not given as much importance as other conflicts and world issues.
Also, I hope this peace deal finally pays off.
Mods, could we have a South Sudan tag?
NB: The trigger warnings are (mostly) for the additional sources.
South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar has returned to the country for the first time in more than two years - as part of a peace deal.
His spokesman told the BBC Mr Machar was now at rebel military headquarters in the eastern town of Pagak.
He is expected in the capital Juba next week to resume the post of vice-president as part of last year's deal.
The deadly civil conflict erupted in 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused Mr Machar of plotting a coup.
Since then thousands of people have died and more than two million have been displaced.
Mistrust
Mr Machar's spokesman told the BBC on Tuesday that the rebel leader was in Pagak, near the border with Ethiopia.
He is expected in Juba on Monday, while his deputy leader Alfred Ladu Gore is already in the capital.
Last week, more than 1,300 rebel troops were flown to Juba as part of the terms of the peace deal signed in August 2015.
These forces are deployed to provide security for Mr Machar, who said he would not come to take up his new position until these security measures were put into place.
Peace agreements between both sides have broken down repeatedly over the years, so there is still expected to be mistrust within this new government, the BBC's Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo reports.
But the people of South Sudan have seen enough calamity and can only hope this transitional government gets things right this time, our correspondent adds.
The peace agreement was signed amid a threat of sanctions from the United Nations.
Fighting was supposed to stop immediately - but there have been frequent violations.
President Kiir and Mr Machar also agreed to share out ministerial positions. The agreement returns the government to where it was before the war broke out.
Conflict on the ground continues to take its toll on civilians despite the peace deal
--------------------------
The UN and African Union have accused both sides of carrying out atrocities - an AU-backed report in January alleged that 50 civilians had suffocated after government troops locked them in a shipping container.
South Sudan is the world's youngest country and one of the least developed. It split from Sudan in 2011.
South Sudan: The world's youngest country
- Split from Sudan in July 2011 after an independence referendum
- One of Africa's least-developed economies. Highly oil-dependent
- Relations with Sudan strained by disputes over oil revenue sharing and borders
- A power struggle brought about civil war in December 2013
- An estimated 2.2 million fled their homes during conflict
- A tentative, internationally mediated, peace agreement signed in August 2015
---------------------------------------
OP: The following article is a little older, but still relevant and provides pretty good background information on this.
------------------------------------South Sudan marks two years of ruinous war
Conflict rages on despite ceasefire deal, leaving more than one million displaced and four million severely hungry.
South Sudan on Tuesday marked two years since the start of a war that has forced one million people from their homes and left four million hungry as politicians broke at least eight commitments to peace.
The country descended into conflict in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar, who he had sacked earlier that year, of plotting a coup.
The clashes that followed set off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the world's newest country, which won its independence from Sudan in 2011, along ethnic lines.
As President Kiir - from the Dinka ethnic group - fought it out with rebels allied to Machar - a Nuer - both sides committed atrocities, including massacres and gang rape, according to the UN and the African Union.
Thousands of child soldiers have fought in the conflict, used as foot soldiers by both government and opposition forces, the US-based Human Rights Watch said.
Both sides have repeatedly accused each other of breaking a ceasefire that was agreed to in August, and a key deadline for Machar to return to the capital from his base in the bush was missed last month.
Refugee camps
Even with thousands of people sheltering inside UN camps across the country, many are still cut off from food and medical care, especially in the north near the border with Sudan.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from a UN camp in the north, Dr Austin Ombija, an official with the International Organization for Migration, said the camps were overcrowded and lacked basic healthcare facilities.
"We have to deal with a lot more patients than what we were envisioned to support. That causes a strain on us in terms of supplies, in terms of staffing, in terms of space that we use for constructing our facilities."
Al Jazeera's Hiba Morgan, reporting from Juba, said aid groups in South Sudan described conditions in the camps as deplorable.
"Many families are living in small spaces, with limited access to clean water and not enough food," she said. "Aid organisations here may differ in the role they play and the services they deliver, but they all agree on one thing: The people need peace and stability to be able to return home and resume their lives.
"Lives have been put on hold for two years, and may be put on hold for longer if the peace signed more than three months ago is not put into practice."
Since the start of the war, at least eight ceasefires or power-sharing deals have been broken. Kiir and Machar have traded accusations over the failed agreements but both say they are committed to the current accord despite missing every listed deadline.
Analysts say the conflict involves multiple militias - allied to Machar or Kiir - who pay little heed to paper peace deals and are often driven by local agendas or revenge attacks.
Broken promises: A timeline of ceasefires and deals
- 2014 -
January 23: Celebrations as Kiir and Machar sign their first ceasefire, agreed in Ethiopia and mediated by East Africa's regional IGAD bloc. It is broken shortly after.
May 9: Kiir and Machar pray together, as mediators in Addis Ababa hail a deal "ending the war".
August 25: Amid sanction warnings, Kiir and Machar ink another ceasefire in Addis Ababa, along with a deal to forge a unity government within 45 days.
October 20: In the Tanzanian town of Arusha, Kiir and Machar accept "collective responsibility" for the war, and call again for peace.
November 8: An "unconditional, complete and immediate end to all hostilities" is agreed by the rivals in Addis Ababa. It lasts a few hours.
- 2015 -
January 21: Kiir and Machar promise to make a "public apology" for the war and recommit to a ceasefire.
February 1: Another ceasefire commitment, and a deadline set for March 5 to agree on a final peace deal and establish a transitional government.
June 27: Kiir and Machar meet for five hours in Kenya, but sign no deal.
August 26: Under intense international pressure, Kiir signs a peace deal he calls a "reward for rebellion". Machar signed it on August 17.
October 3: Kiir undermines a fundamental pillar of the power-sharing deal by ordering the number of regional states be nearly tripled.
November 24: The deadline for a rebel delegation - including Machar - to return to Juba and begin work as part of a "transitional government of national unity" is missed.
December 15: Low-level fighting continues in northern and southwestern parts of the country.
(Timeline by AFP)
--------------------------------------
SOURCE 2.
More sources on this:
-Additional source #1.
-Additional source #2.
-Additional source #3.
-Additional source #4.
-Additional source #5.
--------------------------------------
OP: This is a devastating conflict which has been really underreported in the western media, as far as I can see. Or at least not given as much importance as other conflicts and world issues.
Also, I hope this peace deal finally pays off.
Mods, could we have a South Sudan tag?
NB: The trigger warnings are (mostly) for the additional sources.