The United Nations on Wednesday warned South Sudan's leaders that the young nation's fragile peace process was under serious threat due to slow progress, calling for "fresh urgency" to revive negotiations.

The world's newest nation has suffered from chronic instability since independence in 2011, including a brutal five-year civil war between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar that cost almost 400,000 lives.

The 2018 agreement which ended the war has been bedevilled by bickering between rival parties, and key provisions of the deal are yet to be implemented.

Nicholas Haysom, the UN's special envoy to South Sudan, said the process risked becoming unviable if it failed to pick up the pace.

"The parties must inject fresh urgency into the process and demonstrate a sustained, collective political will to finalise critical areas of the agreement," he told a press briefing.

"Put simply, there cannot continue to be a "business as usual" approach."

Haysom also sounded an alarm on the country's severe flooding crisis, which has affected over 800,000 people following six months of torrential rain.

"I can only describe the situation as dire. Flood waters are not receding and hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced and in desperate need of assistance," he said.

South Sudan has struggled with war, famine and chronic political and economic crisis since celebrating its hard-fought independence from Sudan in July 2011.

As discontent has deepened, some citizens have called for a peaceful public uprising to topple the current regime, saying they have "had enough".

The shaky alliance between Kiir and Machar faced a fresh threat in August when deadly fighting erupted between rival factions of the vice-president's party, Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO).

At least 32 people were killed in the clashes, with Machar saying the squabbles were aimed at derailing the formation of a unified armed forces command, a key component of the peace deal and a potential safeguard against future conflict.

Since the signing of the 2018 agreement, Machar has faced growing opposition within his own ranks, with top cadres complaining they had lost out to the ruling party.

The two parties have yet to agree on a power-sharing deal to unite their armies.

South Sudan violence could amount to 'war crimes': Amnesty
Juba (AFP) Dec 9, 2021 - Fighting between armed groups aligned with government and opposition forces in South Sudan this year subjected civilians to "unimaginable violence" that could amount to war crimes, Amnesty International said Thursday.

The rights watchdog documented fighters on all sides indiscriminately murdering and mutilating civilians and razing entire villages during an upsurge in fighting between June and October in the Western Equatoria region.

The clashes around Tambura county split along ethnic lines after politicians stirred local grievances and encouraged young people to take up arms, Amnesty said in a new report.

But the "death, destruction and division" that followed involved not just local combatants but fighters aligned to rival political factions in Juba, suggesting wider forces at play.

"The testimonies we have gathered speak of unimaginable violence, including civilians killed as they fled and bodies set on fire and mutilated," said Amnesty's regional director, Deprose Muchena.

"That the attacks not only involved local groups, but also fighters affiliated to government and opposition forces, indicates this is much more than inter-communal violence."

South Sudan attained independence in 2011 but plunged into a brutal civil war two years later that killed nearly 400,000 people and forced millions to flee.

A ceasefire was signed and a new coalition government formed in early 2020 between the political rivals, who promised to bring their forces under one banner and rebuild their shattered country.

But the process has stalled and distrust is deepening between President Salva Kiir and his deputy, former rebel leader Riek Machar.

Key provisions of the peace deal have not been honoured, and fighters loyal to each man remain bitterly divided.

Amnesty said the violence in Western Equatoria could be traced to Machar being allocated the state under the power-sharing deal, and appointing a governor opposed by some in the community.

The bloodshed pitted two ethnic groups against one another, with dozens of civilians killed in tit-for-tat exchanges and tens of thousands forced to flee.

Witnesses told Amnesty that fighters "summarily killed civilians by shooting them or slitting their throats", sometimes in front of their children and other family members.

"Deliberately targeting civilians and the murder of captives are war crimes," Amnesty said.

Schools in Tambura had also been used as barracks and hospitals plundered by fighters on all sides, the watchdog said.

The instability comes as South Sudan endures its worst flooding since 1962, with months of rain affecting more than 760,000 people.

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