The South Sudanese government on Tuesday announced an extension of a fragile unilateral cease-fire as it urged rebels loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar and many other armed groups to make the same commitment.
South Sudanese president Salva Kiir hopes that the olive branch extended with hopes that all the groups that have been formed will abide by the ceasefire.
This is the second unilateral cease-fire in eight months after the first one in March was violated several times. Fighting has continued, with government troops and rebels clashing in different parts of the country, including on Monday at the border town of Ombachi in the southwest.
The conflict has become increasingly fractured, with a patchwork of ethnic militias fighting President Kiir’s Juba-based government.
