South Sudanese government insists it is not at war despite heavy fighting

Despite heavy fighting against rebel forces over the past few days, the South Sudanese government insisted on Tuesday that it was not at war.

The United Nations has said the clashes are occurring at a scale not seen since before the 2018 peace agreement.

This latest fighting between factions loyal to President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, Riek Machar, erupted in late December in Jonglei State, north of the capital Juba.

"The ongoing security operation in northern Jonglei State is a lawful and necessary measure aimed at halting the advance of rebel forces, restoring public order, and safeguarding civilians," said Information Minister Ateny Wek Ateny.

President Kiir's forces and those loyal to his first vice president Machar fought a brutal civil war from 2013 to 2018.

In September of that year, they reached a peace deal known as the "Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan” (R-ARCSS).

This saw the creation of a unity government which has been unravelling over the past year amid ongoing clashes.

Machar has been kicked out of the power-sharing government and is on trial for "crimes against humanity".

But Ateny insisted on Tuesday that "the peace agreement has not collapsed".

“The government calls upon the SPLM/A in Opposition to immediately cease hostilities,” he said.

“Actions that undermine the [2018] agreement pose a serious threat to peace and jeopardise the ongoing transitional process," he added.

The fighting in Jonglei state has already caused the displacement of more than 180,000 people and threatens to reignite the civil war.

A spokesman for UN Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres said its mission in South Sudan, UN-MISS, is concerned that the clashes could put hundreds of thousands of civilians at risk.

"What we are witnessing in Jonglei is not an isolated security incident. It is a dangerous escalation which is manifesting in other parts of the country as well," a member of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, Barney Afako, said last week.

South Sudan is the world's youngest country and has been beset by civil war, poverty, and massive corruption since it was formed in 2011.