Violence erupts in South Sudan

In South Sudan, 209 people were killed and 33 were wounded over the month of June, according to CEPO, a civic group based in the country's capital. The wave of violence could threaten the country’s upcoming elections, which are scheduled for 2023. A fragile peace pact was assembled in 2018 between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, but the vice president has said that the country cannot hold elections amid such violence. A United Nations panel in May said that the 2018 agreement was faltering.

Can anyone restore order? James Akot, a political science scholar in the capital city of Juba, said he doubted the country’s military was up to the challenge. Soldiers are sometimes outnumbered by civilian attackers in a country flush with small weapons. On June 25, gunmen killed 30 soldiers in Tonj North, a county in the president’s home state of Warrap. “The armed youth in Tonj North are more powerful than our army and other security institutions,” said Edmund Yakani, head of CEPO. Many other instances of violence throughout the country have been attributed to roving militia groups.

Dig deeper: Read Jamie Dean’s report from the WORLD archives about how church leaders have tried to be peacemakers in the violence-torn region.