JUBA: South Sudan’s opposition said Tuesday that several key political figures had been arrested, a day after one of its army bases was bombed as international concern mounts over the risk of a return to civil war.
Clashes between forces allied to President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, First Vice President Riek Machar, have threatened a fragile power-sharing agreement from 2018.
The renewed insecurity in the world’s youngest nation has prompted concerns from regional partners, with Uganda — which has a long history of intervening in South Sudan — deploying troops to the capital Juba this month.
Uganda’s involvement was condemned by Machar’s party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), which said it was a breach of a United Nations arms embargo.
The SPLM-IO said its military cantonment at Wunaliet, around 15 kilometers (nine miles) from Juba, was attacked on Monday.
“This provocative action is a violation of the (2018 peace agreement),” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Lul Ruai Koang, spokesman for the Kiir-aligned army, earlier warned that Machar’s forces in the area were “scaling up their movements” and had sent out a patrol toward army positions “clearly in military formation.”
The army was yet to confirm the later strikes, but local media reported that it consisted of “heavy shelling.”
South Sudan gained independence in 2011 and soon after fell into a five-year civil war between Kiir and Machar that killed some 400,000 people until a peace deal in 2018 brought them into a unity government.
Analysts say Kiir has been taking steps in recent months to sideline Machar, promoting new members to the cabinet without consultation as the 73-year-old prepares his succession.
On Tuesday, the SPLM-IO said four of its officials had been arrested, including the minister for animal resources and fisheries, Gai Magok.
“Their arbitrary detention is considered part of a broader crackdown” on the party, it said in a statement.
At least 22 political and military officials had already been detained since February, the party has said, many held incommunicado.
Machar’s SPLM-IO said the presence of Ugandan forces was a “grave violation” of the peace agreement.
“The Ugandan military entered South Sudan fully equipped with armored and air-force units in violation of the UN Security Council resolution,” the SPLM-IO said, referencing the arms embargo that is in place until at least May this year.
The statement, issued over the weekend but publicized on Monday, claimed Ugandan forces were “currently taking part in air strikes against civilians” in Upper Nile and Jonglei states.
Ugandan army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, known for his unfiltered posting on X, warned Tuesday that the SPLM-IO’s military wing were “about to be annihilated.”
“Our airforce is doing a great job of destroying them,” he posted, saying they should surrender “to me as soon as possible.”
“Otherwise, not even a rat will survive in Nuer country,” he added.
The focus of recent clashes has been Nasir County in the northeastern Upper Nile State.
A loose band of armed youth known as the White Army, allied to Machar, overran a military base in Nasir in early March.
The army responded with aerial strikes in nearby areas, including the use of bombs containing a highly flammable liquid that acts as an accelerant upon explosion, according to a statement Monday by Nicholas Haysom, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
“These indiscriminate attacks on civilians are causing significant casualties and horrific injuries, especially burns,” Haysom said, adding that an estimated 63,000 people have been displaced.
Kiir replaced the Machar-allied governor of Upper Nile State with one of his own allies last week.
The UN envoy said the country was “teetering on the edge of a relapse into civil war.”
On Monday, the United States State Department said Kiir and Machar “must engage in direct dialogue to curb escalating violence in South Sudan.”
“Non-state militia attacks, govt-backed airstrikes, and promotion of sanctioned officials to high office are deeply concerning,” it said in a statement on X.
South Sudan opposition decries arrests, strike as US urges talks
https://arab.news/jgy8e
South Sudan opposition decries arrests, strike as US urges talks
- Uganda’s involvement was condemned by Machar’s party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition, which said it was a breach of a UN arms embargo
- “This provocative action is a violation of the (2018 peace agreement),” a spokesperson said
US Justice Department official eyes cases against Cuba leaders as Trump floats ‘friendly takeover’
- “Working group” formed to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government
- Trump’s has increasingly displayed aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership
MIAMI: The top Justice Department prosecutor in Miami is considering criminal investigations of Cuban government officials, according to people familiar with the matter. The inquiry comes as President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of the communist-run island.
Jason Reding Quiñones, the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, has created a “working group” that includes federal prosecutors and officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to try to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government and its Communist Party, according to one of the people. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the effort.
It was not immediately clear which Cuban officials the office is targeting or what criminal charges prosecutors may be looking to bring.
The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that “federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime.”
The effort is taking place against the backdrop of Trump’s increasingly aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership.
Emboldened by the US capture of Cuba’s close ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump last month said his administration was in high-level talks with officials in Havana to pursue “a friendly takeover” of the country. He repeated those claims this week, saying his attention would turn back to Cuba once the war with Iran winds down.
“They want to make a deal so bad,” Trump said of Cuba’s leadership.
While Cuba has faded from Washington’s radar as a major national security threat in recent decades, it remains a priority in the US Attorney’s office in Miami, whose political, economic and cultural life is dominated by Cuban-American exiles.
The FBI field office has a dedicated Cuba group that in 2024 was instrumental in the arrest of former US Ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha on charges of serving as a secret agent of Cuba stretching back to the 1970s.
In recent weeks, several Miami Republicans, in addition to Florida Sen. Rick Scott, have called on the Trump administration to reopen its criminal investigation into the 1996 shootdown of four planes operated by anti-communist exiles.
In a letter to Trump on Feb. 13, lawmakers including Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez highlighted decades-old news reports indicating that former President Raúl Castro — the head of Cuba’s military at the time — gave the order to shoot down the unarmed Cessna aircraft.
“We believe unequivocally that Raúl Castro is responsible for this heinous crime,” lawmakers wrote. “It is time for him to be brought to justice.”
While no indictment against Castro has been announced, Florida’s attorney general said this week that he would open a state-level investigation into the crime.
The Trump administration has also accused Cuba of not cooperating with American counterterrorism efforts, adding it alongside North Korea and Iran to a select few nations the US considers state sponsors of terrorism.
The designation stems from Cuba’s harboring of US fugitives and its refusal to extradite several Colombian rebel leaders while they were engaged in peace talks with the South American nation.
