South Sudan

Abstract

A political dispute between South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir and his former vice president, Riek Machar, triggered intraarmy clashes at the end of 2013 that tipped the country into a full-scale civil war in 2014. The fighting quickly assumed ethnic dimensions, with targeted killings carried out by both sides. As in previous conflicts, civilians were not only caught up in the fighting, but were specifically targeted by the combatants—even as they took shelter in hospitals, places of worship, and UN facilities.