
South Sudan's opposition said on Thursday the arrest overnight of First Vice President Riek Machar, long-time rival to President Salva Kiir, had invalidated their 2018 peace deal and risked plunging the country back into war.
A convoy of 20 heavily armed vehicles entered Machar's residence in the capital, Juba, late on Wednesday and arrested him, according to a statement issued by a member of his party -- a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has been building for weeks in the world's youngest country.