Shortly after independence from Sudan in 2011, the country’s independence movement, led by the SPLM, began to splinter.

Political tensions between the SPLM factions came to the fore, exacerbated by ethnic differences as factions aligned according to their tribes.The dominance of the Dinka ethnic group in the country has historically been a source of animosity with other groups.

In 2013, South Sudan descended into full-scale war when Kiir, a Dinka, fired Machar as vice president after escalating rows between them. Machar is from the Nuer ethnic group, South Sudan’s second largest.

Kiir also fired the entire cabinet after some ministers voiced discontent with his leadership. Machar challenged this move, calling Kiir a dictator, and went on to establish the rebel movement, the SPLM/IO, which fought against Kiir’s South Sudanese army.