Senior South Sudanese army generals, who defected in 2015 from the opposition group led by Riek Machar, have returned to the capital, Juba, following months of negotiations with the government.
The group that was fighting both the government and the opposition group led by Riek Machar urged the government to negotiate with factions fighting in different parts of the country, to bring lasting peace.
Fighting in the world’s youngest nation erupted in 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his then deputy Riek Machar of plotting to overthrow his government.
As peace talks kicked off in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, some military generals defected from the Riek Machar-led group with a vision of removing Salva Kiir from power.
There have since been several splinters from Riek Machar’s faction and one such group has just returned to the capital Juba.
South Sudan’s government says it reached an agreement with it in an effort to bring peace to country.
“It is part of government position to see in to it that the government negotiates with them and brings them to South Sudan in order for South Sudan to enjoy peace and silence the guns,” Salva Kiir’s spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny said.
Hopes run high in Juba as different groups arrive.
The focus now moves to Riek Machar and his forces, whose return is expected to lead to formation of a unity government and possibly an end to the conflict.
