Desolation in South Sudan: Civilians Bear the Brunt of Renewed Conflict

Tue Mar 17 2026 10:59:03 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

As clashes escalate between government forces and rebel factions in South Sudan, the harrowing experiences of civilians like Nyawan Koang highlight the urgent need for peace and humanitarian aid.

In a vivid portrayal of the suffering caused by renewed war, thousands of South Sudanese have fled their homes due to escalating attacks by the army seeking to regain control. Eyewitness accounts reveal the harrowing impact of violence on civilians, raising fears of a return to full-scale civil war. With both sides engaging in brutal confrontations, innocent lives are tragically lost, and the population faces severe humanitarian challenges.

'Fire came from the sky and burned them' - life on the brink of civil war in South Sudan

Thousands of people have been fleeing the South Sudanese town of Akobo and surrounding parts of Jonglei state, where the army says it has intensified strikes on its enemies to regain control. The latest fighting has led the UN to warn of a possible return to full-blown civil war in the world's youngest nation.

Nyawan Koang, 30, and her five children had to walk for two days to reach the dusty village of Duk. They had fled Ayod, a remote and largely pastoralist county in Jonglei state, where armed clashes had been raging between the military and their opponents who had been fortifying their presence there since the beginning of the year. We were [wedged] between two forces: the SPLA-IO and the government. And their bullets kill us, she told the BBC.

Government forces are trying to retake territory from those loyal to First Vice-President Riek Machar, who has been suspended from his post after being accused of plotting to overthrow President Salva Kiir. Machar has been under house arrest in Juba for a year awaiting trial for murder, treason, and crimes against humanity. He denies all charges. Aligned with Machar are the Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), who have been seizing towns in Jonglei and other neighboring states.

As they advanced, threatening Jonglei's capital, Bor, they left devastated communities in their wake. Whole villages have been torched and civilians indiscriminately killed. The government has responded swiftly - and ferociously - deploying more troops to attack the positions of their rivals. But civilians were also attacked - including Nyawan's family. She lost both her parents when an air strike hit their small thatched-roof hut. Fire came from the sky and burned them, she said.

Nyawan and her family are among the more than 280,000 people forced from their homes by recent clashes. Thousands of them are in Duk, where aid organizations provide food, medicine, and other basic essentials. Yet more lives are likely to be turned upside-down, or snuffed out altogether, unless a political change of course is made.

Fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his rival-turned-deputy Riek Machar first broke out in 2013, just two years after the euphoria of independence. A 2018 peace deal ended the civil war that had killed nearly 400,000 people, but it has never been properly implemented, and the relationship between the pair has become increasingly strained amid ethnic tensions and sporadic violence. Civilians are bearing the brunt of a spike in indiscriminate attacks including aerial bombardments, deliberate killings, abductions, and conflict-related sexual violence, warned UN officials.

The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, with the World Food Programme estimating that 60% of Jonglei's two million residents are facing hunger, while 10 million out of 14 million people in South Sudan need food aid. The ongoing instability, compounded by regional turmoil, raises fears that the hard-won peace is on the brink of collapse once more, leaving millions of South Sudanese yearning for lasting peace.