Since March 2026, CIR has run a monitoring project tracking conflict events, armed group movements and potential human rights violations in South Sudan, with a focus on Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile. The current escalation follows the breakdown of the power-sharing arrangement between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, and Machar’s detention, which has been accompanied by repeated ceasefire violations and a sharp intensification of fighting since late 2025. Greater Upper Nile remains volatile and largely inaccessible, with repeated outbreaks of violence involving the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) and loosely organised Nuer youth militias often described as the White Army. Community defence groups, government-aligned militias and other regional actors have also been drawn in, forming a dense and shifting network of alliances and front lines.
Aerial view of part of Jamam refugee camp, Upper Nile State, South Sudan, 25 April 2012. Image: Robert Stansfield/Department for International Development, CC BY 3.0.
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