Fighting flares in South Sudan: Is the 2018 peace deal in danger?

South Sudan President Salva Kiir, right, and Vice President Riek Machar attend a Mass led by Pope Francis at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan, on February 5, 2023 [Ben Curtis/AP]

South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, this week ordered a series of high-level arrests and dismissals of political and army figures as tensions between him and Vice President Riek Machar – a main opposition figure – threaten to reach boiling point.

Since Tuesday, soldiers of the South Sudanese army have surrounded Machar’s home in Juba, according to members of the vice president’s party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM/IO). Kiir heads the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).