South Sudan’s army has reclaimed the town of Nasir in Upper Nile state, which was seized by the ethnic Nuer militia, (also known as White Army militia) in March, triggering a major political crisis and the house arrest of First Vice-President Riek Machar.
The conflict, marked by ethnic tensions, has threatened to unravel the fragile power-sharing agreement between President Salva Kiir and Machar, which was established by a 2018 peace deal that ended a bloody civil war claiming hundreds of thousands of lives.
According to military spokesperson Lul Ruai Koang, the town was retaken on Sunday without resistance. He noted that a planned ambush near Thuluc village was thwarted by effective air support. “They were spotted while regrouping, fired on, and then dispersed,” Koang said.
The White Army, reportedly backed by Machar—a claim his party denies—suffered casualties during bombardments near Thuluc. “We were just making a tactical withdrawal,” said White Army spokesperson Honson Chuol James, who reported 17 deaths from the airstrikes.
Machar’s arrest over alleged efforts to incite rebellion has raised concerns internationally over the potential resurgence of ethnic violence. Meanwhile, his SPLM-IO party shows signs of internal fracture, with one faction claiming to have temporarily removed Machar as leader, even as the group’s armed wing remains loyal to him.
In response to the escalating unrest, Uganda deployed troops to secure South Sudan’s capital, Juba. President Yoweri Museveni, who visited Kiir earlier this month, reported that Ugandan forces have killed 1,500 White Army fighters in recent operations.
This military and political turmoil comes amid other high-level shifts in South Sudan’s government, including the recent replacement of the foreign minister following tensions with the United States.