South Sudanese Civil War
The South Sudanese Civil War was a multi-sided civil war in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and 10 others of attempting a coup d'état.[51][52] Machar denied trying to start a coup and fled to lead the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO).[53] Fighting broke out between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and SPLM-IO, igniting the civil war. Ugandan troops were deployed to fight alongside the South Sudanese government.[54] The United Nations has peacekeepers in the country as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).[55]
In January 2014, the first ceasefire agreement was reached. Fighting continued and was followed by several more ceasefire agreements. Negotiations were mediated by IGAD, the African Union, the United Nations, China, the EU, the USA, the UK and Norway. A peace agreement known as the "Compromise Peace Agreement" was signed in August 2015.[55] Machar returned to Juba in 2016 and was appointed vice president.[56] Following a second breakout of fighting within Juba,[57] the SPLM-IO fled to the surrounding and previously peaceful Equatoria region. Kiir replaced Machar as First Vice President with Taban Deng Gai, splitting the opposition, and rebel in-fighting became a major part of the conflict.[58][59] A rivalry between the President and Paul Malong Awan, former army chief, also led to fighting.[60] In August 2018, another power sharing agreement came into effect.[61] On 22 February 2020, rivals Kiir and Machar struck a unity deal and formed a coalition government.[62]
By April 2018, it was estimated that about 400,000 people, 10.6% of which were children, had been killed in the war.[63] This death toll includes notable atrocities, such as the 2014 Bentiu massacre. Although both men otherwise had supporters from across South Sudan's ethnic divides, there were strong tensions between the Dinka and Nuer, which were often violent. Kiir's Dinka ethnic group has been accused of attacking other ethnic groups and Machar's Nuer ethnic group has been accused of attacking the Dinka.[64] More than 4 million people have been displaced, with about 1.8 million of those internally displaced, and about 2.5 million having fled to neighboring countries, especially Uganda and Sudan.[65] Fighting in the agricultural heartland in the south of the country caused the number of people facing starvation to soar to 6 million,[66] causing famine in 2017 in some areas.[67] The country's economy has also been devastated. According to the IMF in October 2017, real income had halved since 2013 and inflation was more than 300% per annum.[68]
Casualties[edit]
Mortality[edit]
During the first two days of fighting after 15 December, reports indicated that 66 soldiers had been killed in clashes in Juba,[352][353][354] and at least 800 injured.[355] By 23 December, the number of dead had likely surpassed 1,000,[102][356] while an aid worker in the country estimated that the death toll was most likely in the tens of thousands.[32] The International Crisis Group reported on 9 January 2014 that up to 10,000 people were estimated to have died. In November 2014, the International Crisis Group estimated the death toll could be between 50,000 and 100,000.[357] A senior SPLA officer stated in November 2014 that the number of government soldiers killed and wounded topped 20,000, with 10,659 soldiers killed from January to October 2014 and 9,921 seriously wounded, according to a report by Radio Tamazuj.[358] By March 2016, after more than two years of fighting, some aid workers and officials who did not want to speak on the record said the true figure might be as high as 300,000.[359] A study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, published in April 2018 claimed that about 383,000 people are conservatively[65] estimated to have died as a result of the war, while the actual number may be considerably higher, with 190,000 deaths directly attributed to violence and most of the deaths having been in Jonglei, Unity and Equatoria.[48]
Two Indian UN peacekeepers were killed on 18 December when their base was stormed by rebels, and three US military Osprey aircraft were fired upon leading to four American service personnel being wounded.[360] On 21 January 2014 Ankunda said that 9 Ugandan soldiers died in a rebel ambush at Gemeza a week before, and 12 others had been killed in total since 23 December.[46]
(SPLA)
Sudan People's Liberation Army
(SSLM) – While the war was often viewed as a conflict between the Dinka-dominated government and other ethnicities, the Nuer-dominated SSLM allied with the government and helped take back Bentiu from the Nuer-dominated SPLM-IO in 2013.
