Germany has temporarily closed its embassy in Juba, citing escalating tensions that have pushed South Sudan to the brink of civil war, the German foreign ministry announced on Saturday.
The move comes after South Sudanese President Salva Kiir dismissed the governor of Upper Nile state, where fighting has intensified between government forces and an ethnic militia linked to First Vice President Riek Machar.
The escalating power struggle has raised fears that South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, could descend into renewed conflict, just seven years after emerging from a brutal civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
“After years of fragile peace, South Sudan is once again on the brink of civil war,” the German foreign ministry wrote on x.
“President Kiir and Vice President Machar are plunging the country into a spiral of violence. It’s their responsibility to end this senseless violence & finally implement the peace agreement.”
The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, has expressed deep concern over the escalating tensions in the country, warning that it is “on the brink of relapsing into civil war.”
