JUBA, South Sudan, Sept 13, (AP): South Sudan's First Vice President Riek Machar faces charges of treason and other serious crimes, local justice authorities said Thursday, as fears grow that the east African country could be edging toward a return to civil war. Machar has been under house arrest since March after the transitional government he is a part of accused him of subversive activities against President Salva Kiir, who said on Thursday that he was suspending Machar as his deputy because of the criminal allegations.

Pro-government troops have been fighting militias and other armed groups that they say are loyal to Machar, who has served as his country’s No. 2 under the terms of a delicate peace deal signed in 2018. That agreement has not been fully implemented, with presidential elections repeatedly postponed. In addition to treason, Machar and seven others face charges of murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property and military assets and crimes against humanity.

The charges stem from a violent incident in March when a militia known as the White Army overran a garrison of government troops, killing its commanding officer and others. The justice ministry said in a statement Thursday that the attack in Nasir, Upper Nile state was influenced by Machar and others via ”coordinated military and political structures." Bringing criminal charges against Machar is likely to further destabilize South Sudan, whose government faces pressure from regional leaders to reach a political agreement that prevents a return to full-blown war.

It was not immediately clear when Machar would be presented in a courtroom. His precise whereabouts in South Sudan are unknown, and his political supporters have long called for his freedom. The statement from the justice ministry Thursday said Machar and his co-accused "have been informed of the charges against them and their constitutional rights.”

But a spokesman for Machar, Puok Both Baluang, said the charges "constitute a political witch hunt” and that the justice system lacks independence and can be directed politically. Edmund Yakani, a prominent civic leader in South Sudan, warned that the suspects should be presented in a competent court and not what he described as "a kangaroo court of law." He said he hopes citizens will be able to attend court proceedings. Both Kiir and Machar are historical leaders of the rebel movement - the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, or SPLM - that secured South Sudan’s independence from Sudan in 2011.