South Sudan orders civilians to vacate a northern space because it battles an armed group

JUBA, South Sudan — South Sudan’s authorities on Monday requested civilians to depart a northern space a day after the military performed an airstrike towards an armed group accused of overrunning a navy base and attacking a U.N helicopter.

The group’s assaults in Nasir County have threatened a peace deal signed in 2018 by President Salva Kiir and his rival-turned-vice president, Riek Machar, that ended a five-year civil struggle throughout which over 400,000 individuals had been killed.

Data Minister Michael Makuei Lueth instructed journalists that any civilian in a navy zone and refusing to depart “shall be handled accordingly.”

Lueth confirmed that the military had performed an airstrike in Nasir County on Sunday evening and would proceed to take action.

Nasir County Commissioner Gatluak Lew Thiep instructed native media shops that greater than a dozen civilians had been killed within the airstrike.

The military didn’t verify killing civilians.

Authorities troops have been clashing in Nasir County with an armed group, often known as the White Military, that some consider is allied with Machar.

Kiir angered Machar’s faction in latest weeks by firing officers seen as loyal to Machar, who stated that “persistent violations via unilateral choices and decrees threaten the very existence” of the 2018 peace deal.

Authorities troops earlier this month surrounded Machar’s house within the capital, Juba, and a number of other of his allies had been arrested after the White Military overran the navy base in Nasir County.