US orders non-emergency staff to leave South Sudan amid tensions

The United States ordered the immediate departure of non-emergency personnel from the capital of South Sudan, citing an increase in crime, kidnapping and armed conflict, the Department of State said Sunday.

The travel advisory level for South Sudan remains at Level 4, which means Americans should not travel to the East African country.

The alert highlights widespread violent crime, including carjackings, shootings, and kidnappings, with foreign nationals targeted in sexual assaults, armed robberies, and other attacks.

The travel advisory stated that fighting was ongoing and that “weapons are readily available to the population.”

It also said that the U.S. government has “limited ability to provide emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in South Sudan.”

The warning comes amid escalating tensions threatening a fragile 2018 peace agreement between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar.

Clashes between an armed group and government forces in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State on Tuesday led to the arrests of key allies of First Vice President Riek Machar, including the petroleum minister and a deputy army chief.

Military personnel later surrounded Mr. Machar’s residence in the capital, Juba, though no formal explanation was provided. Supporters of the first vice president warned the detentions risk derailing the country’s fragile 2018 peace deal, which ended a civil war between forces loyal to Mr. Machar and President Salva Kiir.

On Friday, an attack on a United Nations helicopter conducting an evacuation mission in Nasir exacerbated the security crisis.

The State Department advised any Americans in South Sudan to “exercise extreme caution,” including in Juba.

Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth could not immediately be reached for comment.