This archive report was first published on 7 July 2021.
July 9, 2021, marks a somber milestone for South Sudan as it celebrates 10 years of independence. However, the country's first decade was a bloody and tumultuous one, marked by a civil war that claimed the lives of 380,000 people.
The journey to independence began in 2011, when South Sudan declared its independence from Sudan after six years of autonomy and two decades of war. Salva Kiir, a Dinka from the south, became the country's first president, with Riek Machar, a Nuer from the north, as his deputy.
The new nation inherited three-quarters of the oil reserves of the old Sudan, but Khartoum retained control of the pipeline and export facilities. The tracing of the new border and the status of disputed regions, such as oil-rich Abyei, remained contentious issues.
Just a year later, in 2012, South Sudan and Sudan clashed over oil fields around Heglig, a town just inside Sudan. The conflict escalated, with South Sudanese troops briefly occupying the area, which accounted for half of Sudan's crude oil production.
The dispute over pipeline transit costs and oil theft led to a halt in South Sudan's oil production in January 2012, which lasted for over a year. The conflict eventually turned into a full-blown civil war in 2013, sparked by a power struggle between Kiir and Machar.
After a night of fighting in the capital Juba, Kiir accused Machar of attempting a coup, which Machar denied. The conflict spread beyond the capital, fueled by rivalries between Kiir's Dinka group and Machar's Nuer. The war would go on to claim hundreds of thousands of lives and displace millions.
Despite a peace accord signed in 2015, fighting broke out again in 2016, forcing Machar into exile. However, in 2018, Kiir and Machar met for the first time in two years and signed a new peace agreement, paving the way for a power-sharing government.
However, the armed conflict continued, and the UN extended its peace mission and imposed an arms embargo. In 2020, Kiir and Machar agreed on control of the country's 10 states, but the slow pace of implementing the peace accord raised concerns of a relapse into conflict.
