Int'l community slams fresh call for war in S Sudan

The international community yesterday hit out at a call from South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar for renewed war with the government, raising concerns about heavy fighting in recent weeks.

Machar, the former vice president, last month urged "a popular armed resistance" against his rival Salva Kiir's government, in a statement from Khartoum where he is in exile.

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In a joint statement, the European Union, Norway, the United States and the United Kingdom, together with Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, condemned "calls by opposition leaders for a renewal of armed conflict".

"Further fighting will not solve South Sudan's pressing political and economic challenges. It will only increase the suffering of South Sudan's people, worsen a grave humanitarian crisis, and further inflame ethnic tensions."

South Sudan plunged into conflict in 2013 -- two years after attaining a hard-won independence -- when Kiir accused his rival and former deputy Machar of plotting a coup d'etat.

A patchily implemented August 2015 peace deal saw Machar return to the capital earlier this year to resume his role in government, but fresh fighting between his forces and soldiers loyal to Kiir erupted in July.

Machar fled to Khartoum, and his former ally Taban Deng Gai took up his position as vice-president, although it is unclear whether Machar's armed rebels have also switched sides.