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The United States has ordered the departure of all non-emergency personnel from South Sudan, citing escalating violence and instability in the country.
Recent clashes have strained the fragile 2018 peace agreement between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar, raising fears of renewed conflict. The agreement ended a five-year civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, but tensions between the two leaders have remained high.
On March 8, 2025, the US State Department warned that political and ethnic violence is ongoing and that “weapons are readily available to the population.” It ordered its non-essential government employees to leave due to security risks.
Growing Instability and Deadly Attacks
The UN Human Rights Commission has also sounded the alarm, warning of an “alarming regression” that could undo years of peace efforts.
Tensions further escalated on Friday when a UN helicopter evacuating South Sudanese troops was shot at, killing several people, including a crew member.
Additionally, earlier in the week, security forces arrested the deputy army chief and two ministers aligned with Machar—a move the opposition has condemned as a “grave violation” of the peace deal.
These arrests followed clashes in Upper Nile State between government forces and the White Army, an ethnic militia that previously fought alongside Machar during the civil war.
South Sudan’s Fragile Peace at Risk
Despite President Kiir’s calls for calm, many fear the country could slide back into full-scale conflict.
South Sudan gained independence in 2011, but by 2013, a power struggle between Kiir and Machar plunged the country into civil war, leaving over 400,000 people dead.
The 2018 power-sharing agreement brought a fragile peace, yet key provisions remain unfulfilled, including:
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The drafting of a new constitution
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The organization of elections
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The reunification of rival armed forces into a single national army
While large-scale conflict has subsided, ethnic and local violence continues in parts of the country, fueling concerns that the hard-won peace may be unraveling.
