South Sudan opposition says its leader Machar has been arrested for UN warnings for re-civil war

Juba, South Sudan (AP) – South Sudan’s main opposition party says its leader Riek Machar was arrested as the United Nations called on all parties to safeguard the 2018 agreement to end the civil war.

The United Nations warned on Monday that the country was shaking on the brink of a new civil war after fighting in the north with armed groups between Machar and the government forces.

Opposition spokesman Pal Mai Deng said in a video speech to the media on Wednesday night that Machar was “detained by the government” and that his life was “risk”.

Nicholas Haysom, head of the UN mission in South Sudan, said that after reports on the detention of Machar, all parties should “exercise peace agreements that bind and maintain revival.”

The five-year civil war in South Sudan, in which 400,000 people were killed, ended in a 2018 peace agreement that brought President Salva Kiir and Machar to a unified government.

Tensions between Kiel and Machar’s political parties increased and when armed groups loyal to Machar escalated in February, when armed groups loyal to Machar were at military bases at Upper Nile State University and attacked UN helicopters.

The government responded by air strikes, warning the Army Group to evacuate or “face the consequences” any civilians in areas.

More than a dozen people have died since the air strikes began in mid-March, and the United Nations warned of a new civil war if leaders did not put the country’s interests first.

“Tonight, the country’s leaders are on the brink of widespread conflict, or in the spirit of consensus reached in 2018, when they signed and committed to a revitalized peace agreement,” Haysom said in a statement on Wednesday night.

In early March, several senior Machar’s allies were arrested by security forces, and his supporters denounced the action as a “grave violation” of the peace agreement.