At least 50,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in South Sudan since February as clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar escalate, a United Nations agency reported Tuesday.
The renewed violence in Nasir County, Upper Nile State, is straining an already fragile peace-sharing agreement and disrupting critical humanitarian operations.
“The violence is putting already vulnerable communities at greater risk and forcing the suspension of life-saving services,” said Anita Kiki Gbeho of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
A government airstrike in Nasir County on Monday killed at least 20 people, including children, according to area commissioner James Gatluak. Meanwhile, OCHA reports that around 10,000 displaced individuals have fled into Ethiopia.
The ongoing conflict has also forced 23 humanitarian workers to evacuate, leading to the closure of a cholera treatment unit in Nasir, exacerbating concerns over an outbreak in the region. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) recently recorded 1,300 cholera cases in Akobo County, also in Upper Nile.
“I urge all actors to allow humanitarians to safely reach those in need, especially women, children, and the elderly,” Gbeho said, emphasizing the urgent need for aid access.
The escalating tensions pose a significant threat to the 2018 peace deal that ended a brutal five-year civil war, which claimed approximately 400,000 lives. Kiir’s allies accuse Machar’s forces of inciting violence in Nasir County with the support of the White Army, an armed Nuer youth militia.
Earlier this month, an estimated 6,000 White Army fighters overran a military encampment in Nasir, triggering a deadly response. A UN rescue operation ended in tragedy, resulting in the deaths of a UN helicopter pilot and a senior South Sudanese general.
