South Sudanese Civil War
Years: 2013 - 2020
The South Sudanese Civil War (December 15, 2013 – February 22 , 2020) is a conflict in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces.
In December 2013, President Kiir accuses his former deputy Riek Machar and ten others of attempting a coup d'état.
Machar denies trying to start a coup and flees to lead the SPLM—in opposition (SPLM-IO).
Fighting breaks out between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and SPLM-IO, igniting the civil war.
Ugandan troops are deployed to fight alongside the South Sudanese government.
The United Nations has peacekeepers in the country as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
In January 2014 the first ceasefire agreement is reached.
Fighting continues and will be followed by several more ceasefire agreements.
Negotiations are mediated by "IGAD +" (which includes the eight regional nations called the Intergovernmental Authority on Development as well as the African Union, United Nations, China, the EU, USA, UK and Norway).
A peace agreement known as the "Compromise Peace Agreement" is signed in August 2015.
Machar returns to Juba in 2016 and is appointed vice president.
Following a second breakout of fighting within Juba, the SPLM-IO flees to the surrounding and previously peaceful Equatoria region.
Kiir replaces Machar as First Vice President with Taban Deng Gai, splitting the opposition, and rebel in-fighting becomes a major part of the conflict.
Rivalry among Dinka factions led by the President and Paul Malong Awan also lead to fighting.
About four hundred thousand people are estimated to have been killed in the war by April 2018, including notable atrocities such as the 2014 Bentiu massacre.
Although both men have supporters from across South Sudan's ethnic divides, subsequent fighting has ethnic undertones.
Kiir's Dinka ethnic group has been accused of attacking other ethnic groups and Machar's Nuer ethnic group has been accused of attacking the Dinka.
More than four million people have been displaced, with about one million eight hundred thousand of those internally displaced, and about two-and-a half million having fled to neighboring countries, especially Uganda and Sudan.
Fighting in the agricultural heartland in the south of the country causes the number of people facing starvation to soar to six million, causing famine in 2017 in some areas.
The country’s economy has also been devastated.
According to the IMF in October 2017, real income has halved since 2013 and inflation is more than three hundred percent per annum.
In August 2018, another power sharing agreement comes into effect.
On February 22, 2020, rivals Kiir and Machar strike a unity deal and form a coalition government.