Russian financial and military contributions have been credited with helping the SAF achieve its gains in recent months. Russia has long desired a Red Sea naval base near Port Sudan, and the expulsion of Russia’s fleet from Syria following the fall of President Bashar Assad increased the importance of such a base.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that a peace agreement in South Sudan was in a shambles, telling the country's leaders to put down the weapons and put all the people of South Sudan first.

Tensions are rising in the oil-rich east African nation of South Sudan after Riek Machar who serves as a vice president was arrested in the capital