South Sudan charges VP with murder after attack kills 250 soldiers

South Sudan’s Vice-President Riek Machar has been charged with murder, treason and crimes against humanity implicit an onslaught connected a subject basal that killed much than 250 soldiers, the justness curate said Thursday.

A fragile power-sharing statement betwixt President Salva Kiir and his archetypal vice-president Machar has been unravelling for months successful the world’s youngest country.

In aboriginal March, a militia from Machar’s taste Nuer assemblage known arsenic the White Army attacked a subject basal successful Nasir County, Upper Nile State successful the northeast of the country.

The authorities says Machar was liable and has present charged him and 20 others with murder, conspiracy, terrorism, treason, demolition of nationalist spot and crimes against humanity.

“These crimes were marked by gross violations of the Geneva Conventions and planetary humanitarian law, including the desecration of corpses, persecution of civilians, and attacks connected humanitarian workers,” Justice Minister Joseph Geng Akech said, according to a read-out provided to reporters successful Juba.

The subject basal successful Nasir was overrun by the  White Army betwixt March 3 and 7.

Several elder officers including a wide died and a United Nations chopper besides came nether occurrence portion attempting to rescue soldiers astatine the base, starring to the decease of a pilot.

“This lawsuit sends a wide message: those who perpetrate atrocities against the radical of South Sudan, against our equipped forces, and against humanitarian unit volition beryllium held accountable, nary substance their presumption oregon governmental influence,” the curate said successful the statement.

The UN, which operates a large peace-building ngo successful South Sudan, said astatine the clip that the state was “witnessing an alarming regression that could erase years of hard-won progress”.

Kiir had already been moving for months to consolidate powerfulness and sideline Machar, who was placed nether location apprehension a fewer weeks aft the attack, portion galore of his allies person besides been detained.

South Sudan gained independency from Sudan successful 2011 but was rapidly plunged into a devastating five-year civilian warfare betwixt Kiir and Machar that near immoderate 400,000 dead.

The warfare ended with a power-sharing statement successful 2018 but attempts by the planetary assemblage to guarantee a antiauthoritarian modulation person failed.

Elections that were owed to instrumentality spot successful December 2024 were erstwhile again postponed for 2 years.

South Sudan has besides made headlines aft the United States deported 8 convicted criminals to the state successful July, lone 1 of whom was South Sudanese.

Vanguard News

The station South Sudan charges VP with execution aft onslaught kills 250 soldiers appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.