South Sudan Peace Talks Going Nowhere

FILE PHOTO: South Sudan's President Salva Kiir (C) attends a ceremony marking the thirty fourth anniversary of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) at the military headquarters in Juba, South Sudan May 18, 2017. REUTERS/Jok Solomun/File Photo

Reuters: Little hope of peace talks as renewed fighting looms in South Sudan

KAMPALA (Reuters) - As fresh fighting looms in South Sudan with the onset of the dry season, there is little chance of peace talks to end a war that has already killed tens of thousands of people and created Africa’s largest refugee crisis, diplomats and analysts said.

South Sudan’s December-to-May dry season usually intensifies clashes because travel is easier on the impoverished country’s unpaved roads, which turn to mud in the rains.

“It would be a miracle if they get anything done,” said Peter Biar Ajak, a civil society leader who consults with African and western diplomats on the country’s stop-start peace process.

South Sudan’s war began in late 2013 between soldiers of President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and his former vice president, Riek Machar, a Nuer, devastating the country’s swampy northeast.

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More News On South Sudan's Civil War

South Sudanese rebels claim control of strategic new town -- Sudan Tribune
US embassy issues travel warning as political infighting escalates to armed stand-off in South Sudan -- SOFREP
South Sudan extends state of emergency in four regions -- The Punch
South Sudan's civil war rages, bringing complaints of abuses -- Seattle Times/AP
Civilians Caught in Middle as South Sudan War Nears 4-year Mark -- Voice of America
More Than a Million People in South Sudan Are on the Brink of Starvation -- Time