Clashes in recent days between government troops and forces loyal to Vice President Riek Machar raised the threat of another outbreak of serious fighting. In a letter to regional mediators, Machar had accused President Salva Kiir of violating a 2018 truce, citing attacks on his forces.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s agreement calls for a unified structure in the security services, including the army and the police.<\/p>\n
Other details, including the positions allocated to each party, were not immediately available.<\/p>\n
Both Kiir and Machar witnessed the signing ceremony in Juba, the South Sudan capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is to inform everyone that we have agreed to unify the military command. We are for peace and that all of us should strive for peace,\u201d said Tut Gatluak, a presidential advisor on national security.<\/p>\n
According to Martin Gama Abucha, the mining minister who is a member of Machar\u2019s team, the event was key to maintaining peace in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important that we silence the guns so that South Sudan can prosper,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Sudan\u2019s president and his deputy signed an agreement Sunday to unify the command of the security forces, a deal that eases political tensions in the East African country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":4888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,15],"tags":[7,26,25],"class_list":{"0":"post-4891","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-politics","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n