Riek Machar's arrest raises alarms for civil war in South Sudan

South Sudan recently experienced a surge in violence following the arrest of Riek Machar, the first vice president and key opposition leader, on charges of inciting rebellion. This incident has severely challenged the stability of the power-sharing agreement established in 2018, which had sought to end a five-year civil war that resulted in the deaths of around 400,000 individuals. The unrest escalated when the White Army, an armed group consisting largely of Nuer youth, attacked a government garrison, prompting clashes with forces aligned with President Salva Kiir. The fallout of the arrest has not only fractured the fragile peace agreement but also raised concerns regarding the potential return to all-out civil war in the country. The South Sudanese military's actions since the arrest, including arrests of ministers loyal to Machar and clashes with Nuer forces, suggest that the situation is deteriorating rapidly. This turmoil has sparked fears of increased ethnic violence, especially as the government has been accused of targeting non-Dinka communities, which may further destabilize the region. The mixture of political strife, ethnic tensions, and historical grievances between the Dinka and Nuer groups threatens to plunge South Sudan back into the chaos it faced prior to the peace agreement.