US orders nonemergency government staff to leave South Sudan as tension grows over fighting

US orders nonemergency government staff to leave South Sudan as tension grows over fighting

The U.S. State Department has ordered nonemergency government personnel to leave South Sudan’s capital, Juba, due to escalating tensions and ongoing fighting in the north.

The conflict intensified following clashes between an armed group and the country’s army, leading to the arrest of government officials aligned with Vice President Riek Machar. These arrests have raised concerns over the stability of the peace agreement signed in 2018 after South Sudan’s civil war.

The situation worsened with an attack on a U.N. helicopter, which the U.N. called a war crime. The U.N. Commission on Human Rights warned that the violence could derail South Sudan’s fragile peace process, urging leaders to prioritize human rights and the transition to democracy.

Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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