JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — For the first time since fleeing South Sudan more than two years ago, opposition leader Riek Machar returned to the capital to take part in a nationwide peace celebration.
Machar was welcomed in Juba by South Sudan President Salva Kiir and several regional leaders. Under the new peace deal signed on September 12, Machar will once again serve as a vice president in Kiir's government. This will be the third time the two men will try to work together since the country erupted into civil war in 2013. The last attempt failed when fighting broke out in the capital Juba in July 2016 and Machar escaped the country on foot.
Five years of fighting in South Sudan has displaced millions and killed almost 400,000 people, according to a recent report.
