Rickety ceasefire calms fighting in South Sudan

South Sudan’s vice president and his troops have left the country’s capital, his spokesman said today, following the five-day battle between his supporters and the president’s forces that killed hundreds of people. His departure comes as a humanitarian crisis brews in the capital amid an uneasy peace.

Vice President Riek Machar’s spokesman James Gatdet Dak said Machar is not planning for war, but moved for other reasons.

“We had to move away from our base to avoid further confrontation,” Dak told Reuters. “He is not returning to the bush, nor is he organizing for war.”

Fighting broke out Friday between troops loyal to South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and those pledging allegiance to Machar, killing hundreds of people. Both leaders denied responsibility for the attack and ordered a ceasefire that restored some calm. Dak said Machar would stay out of Juba, the capital city, until the details of the ceasefire were worked out.

Machar’s reason for leaving the capital remains somewhat unclear, said Ebrahim Deen with the Afro Middle-East Center in South Africa. In the 2013 conflict that triggered South Sudan’s civil war and sent Machar into hiding, Ugandan troops accepted Kiir’s request for reinforcements and aid with evacuation. Uganda has said it will send troops to help with evacuation in South Sudan following the latest clashes, and that may have something to do with Machar’s departure, Deen said.

“It could mean he’s trying to lobby for more support, or he’s gone out because he’s actually concerned for his security,” Deen said. “That will become more clear in the coming days.”

The United Nations Refugee Agency said Tuesday the fighting had displaced at least 36,000 people. The agency called for protection of civilians and for neighboring countries to open their borders to people fleeing the violence.

“Inside South Sudan, some 7,000 internally displaced people have sought shelter in the UN’s bases in Juba,” spokesman Leo Dobbs said. “Providing them with food, shelter, water, hygiene, and sanitation facilities will remain a critical challenge so long as the security remains bad.”

Several thousands of people have sought refuge in churches and schools around the capital. The ceasefire has done little to allay their fears.

“We all ran here for our survival,” 32-year-old Ray Scott, who stayed in a cathedral with his four children, told The New York Times. “And people are still afraid to go outside.”

South Sudan signed a UN peace deal in August, but has been slow in implementing it. Machar returned to Juba in April to join the transitional government required by the agreement. But disagreements between the opposing parties on how to implement the peace deal have mired the unity government, and recent fighting has left the South Sudanese people more frustrated with their leaders.

“Both Kiir and Machar should be held responsible for the killing of their own people, and for their soldiers who looted our property and killed my husband,” 28-year-old Rose Juru told Reuters.