NAIROBI: South Sudanese forces loyal to President Salva Kiir have released the peacebuilding minister, a key ally of First Vice President Riek Machar, a spokesman for Machar said on Friday, after the arrests of senior officials escalated tensions.
Between Tuesday and Thursday, security forces arrested or put under house arrest several allies of Machar, including the petroleum minister, the peacebuilding minister and a deputy head of the military, jeopardizing a peace deal that ended a civil war between fighters loyal to Kiir and Machar.
“(Peacebuilding minister) Stephen Par Kuol ... who was unlawfully detained yesterday along with three staff members from his office by the National Security, was released this morning at 05:00 a.m.,” Machar’s spokesman Puok Both Baluang said on X.
The petroleum minister and the deputy head of military were still in custody on Friday, Baluang told Reuters.
Security forces were also deployed around Machar’s residence, though he was able to travel to his office, Baluang said earlier this week.
The arrests followed heavy clashes in recent weeks in the strategic northern town of Nasir between national forces and the White Army militia, a loosely-organized group mostly from the Nuer, Machar’s ethnic group.
The White Army fought alongside Machar’s forces in the 2013-2018 civil war that pitted them against predominantly ethnic Dinka troops loyal to Kiir.
The government has not commented on the detentions. Information Minister Michael Makuei accused forces loyal to Machar of collaborating with the White Army and attacking a military garrison near Nasir on Tuesday.
Machar’s party has denied involvement in the fighting.
South Sudan has formally been at peace since the 2018 agreement ended the five-year conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people, but violence between rival communities flares up frequently.
On Thursday, officials from regional bloc IGAD, the United Nations, the African Union and RJMEC — the body overseeing the peace deal — met Machar and urged all parties to restore calm in Upper Nile State, where Nasir is located.
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South Sudan security forces release peacebuilding minister, vice presidency says
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South Sudan security forces release peacebuilding minister, vice presidency says
- The petroleum minister and the deputy head of military were still in custody on Friday
- The arrests followed heavy clashes in recent weeks in the strategic northern town of Nasir
Israel reopens West Bank-Jordan crossing for Gaza aid
- Israel closed the Allenby crossing to aid destined for the Gaza strip in September
- Palestinian official says 96 trucks carrying cement meterials were allowed to pass through on Tuesday
JERUSALEM: Israel reopened the only crossing on the border it controls between Jordan and the occupied West Bank on Wednesday to aid trucks for Gaza after nearly three months of closure, Israeli and Palestinian officials told AFP.
Israel closed the crossing after a Jordanian truck driver shot dead an Israeli soldier and a reserve officer at the border in September.
The crossing in the Jordan Valley reopened to travelers a few days later, but not to humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by more than two years of war.
“The Allenby crossing was open today and trucks are going from the Allenby crossing to Gaza,” said a spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian Territories.
A Palestinian official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that the crossing had been opened.
On Tuesday 96 trucks carrying materials for the production of cement were allowed to pass through the crossing, the official said.
On Wednesday a further 20 trucks of humanitarian aid entered, and on Thursday sand was expected to be allowed in for the construction sector, the official added.
Since the crossing’s closure, Jordan said it had been able to send some aid to Gaza via the Sheikh Hussein crossing, located north of the occupied West Bank.
On Tuesday, an Israeli official said the transfer of goods and aid from Jordan through Allenby was about to resume after a government directive.
“All aid trucks destined for the Gaza Strip will proceed under escort and security, following a thorough security inspection,” the official said.
The Allenby crossing is the only international gateway for Palestinians from the West Bank that does not require entering Israel, which has occupied the territory since 1967.
Israel closed the crossing after a Jordanian truck driver shot dead an Israeli soldier and a reserve officer at the border in September.
The crossing in the Jordan Valley reopened to travelers a few days later, but not to humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by more than two years of war.
“The Allenby crossing was open today and trucks are going from the Allenby crossing to Gaza,” said a spokesperson for COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian Territories.
A Palestinian official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that the crossing had been opened.
On Tuesday 96 trucks carrying materials for the production of cement were allowed to pass through the crossing, the official said.
On Wednesday a further 20 trucks of humanitarian aid entered, and on Thursday sand was expected to be allowed in for the construction sector, the official added.
Since the crossing’s closure, Jordan said it had been able to send some aid to Gaza via the Sheikh Hussein crossing, located north of the occupied West Bank.
On Tuesday, an Israeli official said the transfer of goods and aid from Jordan through Allenby was about to resume after a government directive.
“All aid trucks destined for the Gaza Strip will proceed under escort and security, following a thorough security inspection,” the official said.
The Allenby crossing is the only international gateway for Palestinians from the West Bank that does not require entering Israel, which has occupied the territory since 1967.
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