South Sudan clashes kill 23 ahead of December elections

Fighting in Ruweng

South Sudan's government forces and fighters loyal to detained former vice president Riek Machar have engaged in sustained combat in the country's northern Ruweng administrative area since early October, leaving at least 23 people dead and 17 wounded, local information minister Tony Chol Ayat told AFP on Sunday. Ayat said fighters from Machar's Sudan People's Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) entered Ruweng from neighbouring Unity state, triggering clashes between October 4 and Thursday.

A resident in Ruweng told AFP that opposition fighters initiated the hostilities and that "the government built up forces on the front lines and the rebel armies were repelled." Both residents spoke on condition of anonymity, while another local source noted widespread fears of heightened conflict in the coming weeks.

Displacement crisis

The death toll was confirmed by two police sources, one of whom confirmed that "thousands" had left the area while Ayat provided a higher figure, stating that more than 100,000 people had fled the fighting. The violence underscores growing instability ahead of South Sudan's first national elections since independence in 2011, which have already been postponed several times.

Electoral backdrop

President Salva Kiir and Machar's forces fought a civil war from 2013 to 2018 that left more than 400,000 dead, and recent weeks have seen hundreds killed in clashes between loyalists of the two leaders as well as ethnic unrest. A UN human rights commission has warned that holding elections amid current tensions could unleash widespread new conflict, adding that the country's elite have siphoned off billions of dollars of oil revenues while widespread corruption persists. Independent since 2011, South Sudan remains one of the world's poorest countries. A South Sudan army spokesman declined to comment on the Ruweng events, while Machar's forces did not respond to an AFP query.