South Sudan is arrested

A spokesman for Rick Machar, First Vice President of South Sudan, said on Wednesday that the country’s forces arrested the oil minister and a number of senior military leaders allied with Machar, which threatens the peace agreement, which ended a five -year civil war.

The arrests came after a fight that broke out in the past few weeks in the strategic town of Al -Nasser in the north between the security forces and the White Army militia composed mainly by belonging to the Al -Nuir tribe, which is the Machar tribe.

The White Army members with Machar’s forces fought in the civil war between 2013 and 2018 in the face of forces loyal to President Salva Kiir from the Dinka tribe.

Bok Bath Beth Baluj, a spokesman for Machar, said that the oil minister Pot Kang Shoul, who is from the town of Al -Nasser and the deputy commander of the army, Gabriel Dub Lam, was arrested, while senior military officials allied with Machar put in house arrest.

“Until now, no reason has provided us with the arrest of these officials,” he added.

He continued that security forces deployed around Machar’s residence, but the vice president managed to go to his office this morning.

In the first comment from the government since the arrests, Minister of Information Michael McCoy accused the forces loyal to Machar, of cooperation with the White Army and attacking a military garrison near the town of Nasser on Tuesday.

McCoy did not comment on the arrests, but he said that Kiir has pledged that the country would not return to war.

“The government is working to address this situation, and people should not panic or listen to unrealistic rumors and are basically published by the enemies of peace and stability,” McCoy said in a statement.