Uganda deploys special forces in South Sudan amid escalating tensions and civil war fears

Uganda has deployed special forces to South Sudan’s capital as tensions between president Salva Kiir and first vice-president Riek Machar threaten to unravel the fragile power-sharing peace deal signed in 2018.
The Ugandan military chief, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, confirmed the deployment to the country’s capital, Juba, on Monday (10 March), emphasizing that the troops were sent to “secure” the capital amidst fears of a return to civil war. The tensions escalated after Kiir’s government detained several ministers and senior officials aligned with Machar, with deadly clashes reported in Nasir, a town in the Upper Nile region. These developments risk breaking the 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war between the two leaders’ forces, which left nearly 400,000 people dead.
Kainerugaba declared on social media that Uganda would only recognize Kiir as the legitimate president and warned that any action against him would be considered a declaration of war against Uganda. While the Ugandan government has not disclosed how long the forces will remain in South Sudan or whether the deployment was at Kiir’s request, it underscores Uganda’s deep concern over regional stability. As tensions mount, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which oversees the peace deal, has convened an urgent summit on Wednesday (12 March) to specifically address the growing crisis in South Sudan that is on the brink of a full-blown civil war.