{"id":10129,"date":"2026-01-28T09:26:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T09:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=10129"},"modified":"2026-01-28T09:26:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T09:26:57","slug":"south-sudan-launches-offensive-against-opposition-forces-what-to-know-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=10129","title":{"rendered":"South Sudan launches offensive against opposition forces: What to know | Politics News"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

South Sudan\u2019s army, following territorial losses in recent weeks, has announced a major military operation against opposition forces, raising fears for civilian safety.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Sunday, army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said Operation Enduring Peace would commence as he ordered civilians to evacuate three counties in Jonglei state immediately. He directed aid groups to leave within 48 hours.<\/p>\n

\n

Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n

list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n

Koang told The Associated Press news agency on Monday that the operation aims to recapture towns recently seized by opposition forces and \u201cre-establish law and order\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe country is not at war,\u201d Information Minister Ateny Wek Ateny told reporters in Juba on Tuesday. \u201cWe are only stopping the advancement\u201d of the opposition forces, he said.<\/p>\n

However, this came days after a senior army commander was filmed urging his troops to kill civilians and destroy property in the Jonglei offensive, drawing rebuke from the United Nations<\/a> and others.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is now indisputable: South Sudan has returned to war,\u201d said Alan Boswell, the International Crisis Group\u2019s project director for the Horn of Africa. \u201cIt is incredibly tragic for a country that only grows weaker and poorer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know about the resurgence of violence in South Sudan:<\/p>\n

Government\u2019s battlefield losses<\/h2>\n

Beginning in December, a coalition of opposition forces seized a string of government outposts in central Jonglei, a region that is the homeland of the Nuer ethnic group and an opposition stronghold.<\/p>\n

Some of those forces are loyal to opposition leader Riek Machar, while others consider themselves part of an ethnic Nuer militia called the White Army. White Army fighters have historically fought alongside Machar but consider themselves a distinct group.<\/p>\n

Machar, an ethnic Nuer, was made the most senior of five vice presidents under a 2018 peace agreement that ended fighting between his forces and those loyal to President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, the country\u2019s largest group.<\/p>\n

That five-year civil war was waged largely along ethnic lines, killing an estimated 400,000 people.<\/p>\n

\"President
South Sudan President Salva Kiir [File: Tiksa Negeri\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Suspension of government\u2019s number two<\/h2>\n

There has been a resurgence of violence in the past year, with sporadic fighting.<\/p>\n

Machar was suspended last year as South Sudan\u2019s number two after White Army fighters overran a military garrison in the town of Nasir. He now faces treason and other charges over that attack, which authorities allege Machar helped orchestrate. But Machar\u2019s allies and some international observers say the charges are politically motivated. He remains under house arrest while his trial unfolds slowly in the capital, Juba.<\/p>\n

Machar\u2019s trial is widely seen as a violation of the 2018 peace agreement. Yet Kiir and his allies say the agreement is still being implemented, pointing to a faction of the opposition still in the unity government.<\/p>\n

Forces loyal to Machar have declared the agreement dead, and have since ratcheted up pressure on the army by seizing armouries and launching hit-and-run attacks on government positions. The government has relied largely on aerial bombardments to beat back a rebellion that analysts say is gaining momentum across multiple states.<\/p>\n

After seizing the government outpost of Pajut in Jonglei on January 16, opposition forces threatened to advance towards Juba. The government has responded by amassing fighters in nearby Poktap, while several thousand Ugandan soldiers defend Juba.<\/p>\n

Army chief Paul Nang gave his troops one week to \u201ccrush the rebellion\u201d in Jonglei.<\/p>\n

\u2018Spare no lives\u2019<\/h2>\n

On Saturday, a day before the army announced its offensive, a senior military commander was filmed urging his forces to kill all civilians and destroy property during operations in Jonglei. It was not clear who took the video, which has been shared on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpare no lives,\u201d General Johnson Olony told forces in Duk county, not far from Pajut. \u201cWhen we arrive there, don\u2019t spare an elderly, don\u2019t spare a chicken, don\u2019t spare a house or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armed groups in South Sudan, including the military, have repeatedly been implicated in civilian abuses, including sexual violence and forced recruitment.<\/p>\n

Olony\u2019s comments were particularly aggressive and drew concern. \u201cWe are shocked, we are disturbed, we are surprised,\u201d said Edmund Yakani, a prominent civic leader.<\/p>\n

His words showed that government troops were being \u201cempowered to commit atrocities, to commit crimes against humanity, and, potentially, even to commit a genocide,\u201d Yakani said.<\/p>\n

\"South
South Sudan\u2019s suspended First Vice President Riek Machar [File: Samir Bol\/Reuters]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan expressed \u201cgrave alarm\u201d at developments that it said \u201csignificantly heighten the risk of mass violence against civilians\u201d.<\/p>\n

Machar\u2019s political group said in a statement that Olony\u2019s words were an \u201cearly indicator of genocidal intent\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the AP, government spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny called Olony\u2019s comments \u201cuncalled for\u201d and \u201ca slip of the tongue\u201d.<\/p>\n

But he also said while it was possible that Olony was \u201ctrying to boost the morale of his forces\u201d, his words are not indicative of government policy.<\/p>\n

Olony, appointed assistant chief of defence forces for mobilisation and disarmament a year ago, also leads a militia, known as the Agwelek, from his Shilluk tribe that agreed to integrate into the army last year.<\/p>\n

The deployment of forces to Nuer communities by Olony is contentious because of a separate rivalry between the Shilluk and Nuer communities. In 2022, White Army fighters razed Shilluk villages and displaced thousands of civilians before the government intervened with attack helicopters.<\/p>\n

Olony\u2019s forces were also involved in military operations in other Nuer communities last year.<\/p>\n

Deploying him to Jonglei \u201cis incendiary\u201d, said Joshua Craze, an independent analyst and writer on South Sudan. \u201cHis presence in the state is a propaganda gift to the opposition in its mobilisation efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Sudan\u2019s army, following territorial losses in recent weeks, has announced a major military operation against opposition forces, raising fears for civilian safety. In a statement on Sunday, army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said Operation Enduring Peace would commence as he ordered civilians to evacuate three counties in Jonglei state immediately. He directed aid groups […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}