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Escalating clashes force mass exodus from Jonglei state
Thousands of civilians are fleeing South Sudan's Jonglei state as government forces intensify airstrikes and ground offensives against opposition groups, the United Nations warns, raising fears of a full-scale return to civil war in the conflict-ravaged nation.
Civilians trapped between warring factions
Nyawan Koang, 30, and her five children walked for two days to escape Ayod county, where clashes between the South Sudanese military and rebels have raged since January. She described being caught between government troops and fighters loyal to the Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), the armed wing of suspended First Vice-President Riek Machar.
"We were wedged between two forces: the SPLA-IO and the government. And their bullets kill us."
Nyawan Koang, displaced civilian
Koang's parents were killed when an airstrike destroyed their home. "Fire came from the sky and burned them," she said. Her family is among over 280,000 people displaced by recent fighting, according to aid agencies.
Government offensive targets Machar loyalists
President Salva Kiir's forces are attempting to retake territory seized by SPLA-IO fighters, who have advanced toward Jonglei's capital, Bor, torching villages and killing civilians. The military has deployed additional troops in response, but attacks on non-combatants have been reported.
In late February, government soldiers executed more than 20 civilians-including women and elderly residents-in Ayod, an incident confirmed by army spokesman Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang. Two platoons and their commanders have been detained pending court-martial proceedings, he said.
Political crisis fuels bloodshed
The violence follows President Kiir's suspension of Machar, who has been under house arrest in Juba for a year on charges of treason, murder, and crimes against humanity. Machar denies the allegations, which his supporters call politically motivated.
Kiir also dismissed Machar's wife, Interior Minister Angelina Teny, and other officials, further destabilizing the fragile 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people. The agreement's collapse risks plunging South Sudan back into widespread conflict.
Humanitarian catastrophe deepens
The UN Human Rights Office documented 189 civilian deaths in January alone, citing indiscriminate airstrikes, killings, and sexual violence. "Civilians are bearing the brunt of this spike in violence," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
In Jonglei, 60% of the state's 2 million residents face acute hunger, while 10 million of South Sudan's 14 million people require food aid, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports. Aid delivery is severely hampered by the country's underdeveloped infrastructure-only 400 km of roads are paved-and seasonal flooding that cuts off 80% of the nation for up to eight months annually.
"South Sudan is one of the world's most complex environments to provide humanitarian assistance. We have conflict, natural disasters, inter-communal violence, economic instability, and physical access challenges."
Adham Affandy, WFP Acting Country Director
Regional instability compounds crisis
South Sudan's turmoil is exacerbated by spillover from Sudan's civil war, which has driven over a million refugees across the border in the past three years. Observers warn the 2018 peace deal is unraveling, with millions fearing a return to all-out war.
"South Sudanese people are exhausted," Affandy said. "They want peace."
As government forces prepare a "second-phase" offensive in Akobo county-an SPLA-IO stronghold-aid groups have been ordered to evacuate, leaving thousands of civilians at risk.
