South Sudan ceasefire breached within hours

South Sudan government troops breached the country’s latest ceasefire just hours after it began at midnight on Friday, the armed opposition claimed yesterday, but a government spokesman accused the rebels of staging an attack.

The competing claims indicated a shaky start to the latest attempt at ending the country’s five-year civil war, which has killed tens of thousands and created Africa’s largest refugee crisis since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Millions are close to famine and aid delivery is often blocked in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for humanitarian workers.

President Salva Kiir and rival Riek Machar, Mr Kiir’s former deputy, had agreed on a permanent ceasefire in talks last week in neighbouring Sudan, in their first face-to-face meeting in nearly two years. They ordered their supporters to observe it.

Opposition spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel said government forces and Sudanese rebel militias launched a “heavy joint attack” in Mboro, Wau County in the north-west at about 7am yesterday, arriving in armoured personnel carriers, lorries and Land Cruisers.

“The fight is still ongoing as I write,” Mr Gabriel said, calling on the UN peacekeeping mission and ceasefire monitors to investigate. He said the opposition reserved the right to self-defence.

“This is disappointing that even when their president and commander-in-chief Salva Kiir declares a ceasefire, the regime’s forces still violate it,” Mr Gabriel said. “There is the possibility Salva Kiir is not in control of his forces or he doesn’t want peace to come.”

South Sudan government spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said that the opposition had attacked instead.

“They have a loose leadership; they’re not being controlled by anyone. The people of South Sudan should be given a chance to lead a peaceful life, and the army is observing the order of the president. It’s very sad,” Mr Ateny said.

The previous ceasefire in December was broken within hours, prompting a new push by the international community to threaten UN and regional sanctions against those blocking the path to peace.

This time, Mr Kiir and Mr Machar had faced a UN arms embargo and sanctions if fighting did not stop and a political deal reached by yesterday.

Wary observers inside and outside the country, including the warring sides, have approached the latest ceasefire with cautious optimism.

A joint statement by the United States, Britain and Norway said that the effects of the halt in fighting must be visible on the ground: “It must lead to ... an end to the horrendous abuses endured by civilians at the hands of security forces.”

The latest talks between the rivals have yet to agree on a power-sharing deal, because the government has rejected the idea of Mr Machar again becoming Mr Kiir’s deputy.

The civil war broke out between supporters of Mr Kiir and his vice president Mr Machar in late 2013, just two years after South Sudan won independence from Sudan.

A 2015 peace agreement brought back Mr Machar as vice president but the deal collapsed in July 2016 when fighting erupted in the capital, Juba. Mr Machar fled through the bush on foot into Congo.

There is the possibility Salva Kiir is not in control of his forces or he doesn’t want peace LAM PAUL GABRIEL Opposition spokesman, South Sudan