S.Sudan opposition MP accuses government of 'mapping genocide'

Months of clashes between Kiir's forces and those loyal to the first vice-president Machar, who was arrested in March, have stoked fears of a return to civil war in the world's youngest country, which only ended with a 2018 deal between the two sides.

Kiir's allies have accused Machar's forces of threatening that deal by fomenting unrest in Nasir County, Upper Nile State, in league with the so-called White Army, a loose band of ethnic Nuer armed youths in the region.

"The Nuer ethnic group, one of the largest in South Sudan, played a significant role in the liberation struggle," read a government statement.

"The community spans 16 counties... out of these, nine are considered hostile," meaning aligned with Machar's party, the statement added.

Nasir County was among those considered hostile.

That designation was "reckless and malicious, said Reath Muoch Tang, a deputy and top official in Machar's party who is Nuer himself.

"This dangerous labeling (sic)... this sinister plan constitute(s) nothing short of a mapping for genocide against the Nuer community," Tang said in the statement published on Facebook.

"It is a deliberate and calculated attempt to justify collective punishment, instigate violence, and destroy an entire society under the false cover of security measures."

Clashes around Nasir contributed to the unravelling of Kiir and Machar's fragile 2018 power-sharing agreement, which had put an end to a civil war that killed around 400,000 people.

Some 6,000 White Army fighters are estimated to have stormed a military camp in Nasir in early March, with a top-ranking general among the victims.

The government said the attack killed 400 members of the armed forces.

Since March the violence has led to the deaths of at least 200 people across several South Sudan states and displaced around 125,000 more, according to the United Nations.

Kiir is from the Dinka ethnic group, which along with the Nuer is one of the two largest in ethnically diverse South Sudan.

The president has moved to sideline Machar, who was placed under house arrest, ratcheting up tensions between the two sides.

Despite its rich oil fields, South Sudan is deeply impoverished, and has been plagued by instability since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.