South Sudan VP's spokesman says deputy head of military arrested

5/3/2025 16:27

South Sudanese forces have arrested a senior military official allied with First Vice President Riek Machar, and deployed troops around Machar's residence, risking a 2018 peace deal that ended a civil war, his spokesperson said.



South Sudan has formally been at peace since the 2018 agreement ended a five-year conflict between Machar and President Salva Kiir that killed hundreds of thousands of people, but violence between rival communities flares up frequently.



On Tuesday, General Paul Nang, the head of South Sudan's defence forces, arrested one of his deputies, Lieutenant General Gabriel Doup Lam, while security forces surrounded Machar's residence, Machar's spokesperson Pal Mai Deng said in a statement late on Tuesday.



"This action violates the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan and cripples the Joint Defence Board, a vital institution of the Agreement responsible for the command and control of all forces. This act puts the entire agreement at risk," the statement said.