Monday 18 July
- IGAD calls for full demilitarization of Juba, demanding the withdrawal of SPLA and SPLA (IO) rival forces.
- Alleged clashes between government forces and the SPLA (IO) in Leer county, Unity State.
Tuesday 19 July
- China National Petroleum Corp. evacuated 191 employees, leaving 77 people to try to maintain normal operation.
- The African Union has approved plans to deploy regional troops, with a more robust mandate, to South Sudan to help reinforce UNMISS’ operations. Both the SPLM and the SPLM (IO) rejected the plan, while a SPLA spokesperson said its forces will fight regional troops if they enter South Sudan.
- The SPLA has vowed to carry out a military offensive against the Lou-Nuer inhabited areas of eastern Jonglei State. The statement is made in response to unconfirmed reports suggesting mobilization of some ‘white army’ fighters in the Yuai area.
- The Guardian: “Violence, fear and looting grip South Sudan’s capital Juba”
Wednesday 20 July
- At least 500 people are now thought to have been killed in Juba after the recent fighting.
- A UN rights expert demanded the immediate release of Alfred Taban, founder and editor of Juba Monitor, who was detained last week.
- China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it is sending its special envoy for Africa to help with the efforts to resolve South Sudan crisis.
- Hundreds of troops loyal to the defected SPLA (IO) General Dau Aturjong Nyuol have allegedly joined the SPLA in Northern Bahr al Ghaza State.
- The Financial Times: “To save South Sudan, put it on life support”
Thursday 21 July
- The UN has banned 12 police officers from Britain, Germany and Sweden from returning to UNMISS after they left during recent fighting without consulting mission chiefs.
- A number of senior government officials from the proposed Lol State government have defected to the SPLM (IO), including the mayor of Raja town James Benjamin.
- BBC news clip: “We cannot afford to have a failed South Sudan”
- BBC: “South Sudan crisis: The wounds of war”
Friday 22 July
- Following the recent clashes, hundreds of displaced civilians are struggling to find proper shelter in U.N. compounds in Juba as the rainy season begins to set in.
- The New York Times: “Is There Any Hope for Peace in South Sudan?”
Sunday 24 July
- A SPLM (IO) split has emerged. A faction of the group has temporarily replaced Riek Machar as vice-president with Taban Deng Gai, SPLM (IO)’s former chief negotiator, as Machar failed to return to Juba within President Salva Kiirs 23 July deadline. Machar however, rejected the move as a “conspiracy” to overthrow him, adding that he fired Taban Deng Gai as Minister of Mining on 22 July. The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) later criticized the nomination of Taban Deng Gai as “illegitimate.”
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