South Sudan soldiers to face court martial over a civilian massacre

JUBA, South Sudan 

South Sudanese soldiers, including two officers, will face a court martial over a civilian massacre last month, the army spokesman said Wednesday.

The increasingly unstable country is seeing a surge of fighting between government and opposition forces, much of it in eastern Jonglei state where at least 280,000 people have been displaced since December according to the United Nations.

At least 25 civilians, including women and children, were killed in Ayod County in Jonglei state on February 21, according to the opposition.

Army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang told our reporter that two officers, including a major, and several non-commissioned officers, had been arrested and would face charges in the capital Juba, "before they are arraigned before a competent military court martial".

He said the deaths were attributed to "some elements" under General Johnson Olony, who was filmed in January ordering troops to "spare no lives" in Jonglei.

Koang said the soldiers had "moved out without the knowledge or authorisation of the division commander".

He also said they had been part of a militia group allied to opposition forces, parts of which had not yet been fully integrated into the army.

Military integration was among the core principles of a peace agreement that ended South Sudan's five-year civil war in 2018 between President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, Riek Machar, but it was never implemented.

Koang said the army regretted the loss of lives, adding: "We would like to once again remind our forces that their mandate is to protect civilians and their property, not to do the opposite."

It followed an impassioned plea from the Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference on recent civilian killings -- in Ayod, and also in Abiemnom County near the Sudan border where at least 169 people were killed on Sunday.

"We implore you to deploy resources to protect vulnerable populations and foster a climate of dialogue and reconciliation instead of violence and revenge, consoling the bereaved and supporting the afflicted," it said in a statement.

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 06/03/2026

 

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 05/03/2026

 

Iran postpones Khamenei funeral as US-Israeli bombardment continues

TEHRAN, Iran 

Authorities in Iran have postponed the funeral ceremony for the late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as US and Israeli forces continue intense strikes across the country.

An official said there had been many requests from people wanting to attend the three-day event at a Tehran prayer complex and that infrastructure needed to be prepared. It had been due to begin on Wednesday night.

A member of the Assembly of Experts meanwhile said the clerical body was "close" to choosing a successor to Khamenei, who was killed in a strike at the start of the US and Israeli assault on Saturday.

Iran has responded by launching missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf states with US bases.

Kuwait's health ministry said overnight that a girl had been killed by shrapnel that fell on a residential area during an Iranian attack.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said a US submarine sank an Iranian navy frigate in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka.

"[The warship] thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death," he told reporters.

Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyyakontha said the bodies of 80 people on board the Iris Dena had been recovered.

Another 32 people have been rescued, while dozens more are missing.

Hegseth also said that US and Israeli forces would have total aerial superiority over Iran within days and would "soon" control the country.

"This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they're down," he declared.

The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, said US President Donald Trump had "dragged the American people into an unjust war".

Khamenei - who was Iran's spiritual leader and its highest authority - was killed at his compound in Tehran in the first wave of US and Israeli strikes, along with his wife, one of their adult sons, and several top officials.

The three-day funeral ceremony for the 86-year-old cleric had been due to start at 22:00 local time (18:30 GMT) on Wednesday, with mourners invited to pay their respects as he lay in state at the capital's Grand Mosalla prayer complex.

But on Wednesday morning, the head of the Islamic Propaganda Co-ordination Council of Tehran province told the hardline Tasnim news agency that it had been decided to postpone the ceremony until "a more appropriate time".

Seyyed Mohsen Mahmoudi said this was because of "the high volume of requests to attend this ceremony and the need to provide appropriate facilities to host the people".

Following Khamenei's assassination, state media showed crowds of the Islamic Republic's supporters protesting in Tehran against the US and Israeli attacks. 

But social media videos also showed opponents celebrating on the streets in the capital and other cities.

Khamenei became supreme leader in 1989 after the death of the Islamic Republic's founding father, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He maintained a firm grip on Iran's politics and its armed forces, and suppressed challenges to the ruling system, sometimes violently.

Many people called for his overthrow or his death during nationwide protests in late December and early January. Security forces under his command crushed the uprising with unprecedented force, killing at least 6,480 people, according to human rights groups.

Iran's new supreme leader is supposed to be chosen by the Assembly of Experts. The clerical body's 88 members are elected by Iranians every eight years, but Khamenei ensured they were conservatives who would follow his guidance on picking a successor.

26 medical workers missing after South Sudan attacks

JUBA, South Sudan 

More than two dozen Doctors Without Borders workers remain unaccounted for a month after attacks in South Sudan, the medical charity said.

Two facilities operated by the group, known by French acronym MSF, were attacked on Feb. 3 in Jonglei State, northeast of the capital, Juba, where violence has displaced an estimated 280,000 people since December.

A hospital in the town of Lankien was bombed by government forces, MSF said, while another medical facility in the town of Pieri was raided by “unknown assailants.” Both were located in opposition-held areas.

Staff working at the two facilities fled alongside much of the local population into deeply rural areas where armed clashes and aerial bombardments were ongoing.

MSF said in a statement on Monday that “26 of 291 of our colleagues working in Lankien and Pieri remain unaccounted for.

“We have lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity," it said.

The lack of communication with its staff could be linked to the limited network connectivity in much of the state. Staff members who had been contacted described “destruction, violence and extreme hardships.”

Fighting escalated sharply in December, when opposition forces captured a string of government outposts in north central Jonglei. In January, the government responded with a counteroffensive that recaptured most of the area it had lost.

Displaced people in Akobo, an opposition-held town near the Ethiopian border, described horrific violence by government fighters. Many described not being able to find food or water as they walked for days to reach safety.

The attacks on facilities operated by MSF in Lankien and Pieri are part of an uptick in violence on humanitarian staff, supplies and infrastructure, aid groups say. Facilities operated by MSF have been attacked 10 times in the last 12 months.

“This violence has taken an unbearable toll not only on health care services, but on the very people who kept them running,” said Yashovardhan, MSF head of mission in South Sudan, who only uses one name.

“Medical workers must never be targets," he said. "We are deeply concerned about what has happened to our colleagues and the communities we serve.”

EAST AFRICA NEWSPAPERS 04/03/2026