A South Sudanese opposition lawmaker has accused President Salva Kiir’s government of orchestrating a “genocide” against the Nuer ethnic group by classifying their regions as “hostile.”
The claim, made on Sunday, comes amid escalating tensions following months of clashes between forces loyal to Kiir and those aligned with First Vice-President Riek Machar, who was arrested in March.
The fragile peace agreement signed in 2018, which ended a brutal civil war that left around 400,000 people dead, now appears increasingly at risk.
Allegations of unrest fomented by Machar’s faction, particularly in Nasir County in Upper Nile State, have been cited by Kiir’s allies as a threat to that accord.
In a government statement, officials noted that nine out of 16 Nuer-majority counties were now considered hostile, a designation based on suspected support for Machar’s party.
Reath Muoch Tang, a prominent Nuer politician within Machar’s party, condemned the classification as reckless and dangerous.
He warned that the labelling of entire communities as hostile amounted to a deliberate plan to justify violence and collective punishment against the Nuer people.
Tang described it as a “sinister plan” that effectively amounted to mapping out a genocide, accusing the government of seeking to destroy an entire society under the guise of security operations.
Recent clashes around Nasir, where approximately 6,000 White Army fighters reportedly attacked a military base, have significantly heightened tensions.
The government claims 400 soldiers were killed during the assault, including a senior general.
Since March, violent confrontations have left at least 200 people dead across several states and displaced around 125,000 individuals, according to UN estimates.
President Kiir, a member of the Dinka ethnic group, has tightened his grip on power by placing Machar under house arrest, further straining relations between the country’s two largest ethnic communities.
Despite South Sudan’s wealth in oil resources, the nation remains deeply impoverished and has struggled with instability since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.
