UNMISS provides protection to civilians fleeing recent violence in Wau. (Photo: UNMISS)

In a statement released after a closed-door meeting at the request of the US to discuss the fighting in Juba, 15 UNSC members asked Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar to do their utmost to control their respective forces, end the fighting, prevent any escalation of violence, and commit themselves to a full and immediate implementation of the peace agreement, including the permanent ceasefire and redeployment of military forces from Juba. 

Conflicts between the forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and to Vice President Riek Machar have heightened fears of a recurrence of civil war in South Sudan. More than 150 people were killed on Friday fighting outside the presidential palace where Kiir and Machar were about to make Independence Day speeches.