The warring leaders of South Sudan have signed a power-sharing agreement in their latest bid to end a brutal five-year civil war.

The world's youngest country has been mired in conflict for much of its existence, having become independent from Sudan in 2011 after a landslide referendum.

President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar - who had been allies in the campaign for independence - will sign an agreement on 5 August that will lead to the creation of a new government accommodating both factions, according to foreign minster Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed.

The warring groups have already agreed on a permanent ceasefire, and to withdraw their forces from civilian areas.

Image: South Sudan President Salva Kiir will continue to lead

Once the final deal is in place, Mr Machar will become vice president - a post he had held until violence broke out in 2013.


He was kicked out of the government after being accused of plotting a coup against the president, an allegation he rejected. Instead, he accused Mr Kiir of purging potential political rivals.

The resulting conflict led to ethnic massacres, attacks on civilians, widespread rape and the recruitment of child soldiers, with tens of thousands of people killed and two million having fled in what has become Africa's biggest refugee crisis since the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

It saw the United Nations include South Sudan among a list of countries contributing to what it described as the largest humanitarian crisis since the end of the Second World War.

Image: Rebels prepare to assault government soldiers in the border town of Kaya last summer

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on two military officials in the country after condemning government-backed forces for committing "deliberate, ruthless and brutally violent attacks on civilians".

Women and children had been especially targeted, the council said.

The peace agreement comes with the South Sudanese economy having floundered amid plummeting oil production rates and a heavily disrupted agriculture industry, which has sparked a major food crisis.

According to the UN, seven million people in the country will need food aid this year.

Image: A child refugee awaits treatment at a medical centre in Uganda

The agreement signed on Wednesday came after talks in Uganda in June, guided by the leaders of Sudan and other east African nations.

It should lead to an arrangement that will see a new government guaranteed power for two-and-a-half years, with 20 ministers from Mr Kiir's group, nine from Mr Machar's, and six from others.

The government will have 550 MPs, 332 of whom will represent the president's party, and Mr Machar will be one of five vice presidents supporting Mr Kiir.

But the deal brokered between the two is tinged with some trepidation, with a similar arrangement reached in 2016 having quickly fallen apart after fighting erupted in the capital of Juba.