An armed convoy led by top security officials, including the defence minister, entered Machar's residence in the capital, Juba, and disarmed his bodyguards late on Wednesday, said the Sudan People's Liberation Movement In Opposition (SPLM/IO).

The detention of South Sudan ’s first vice-president Riek Machar under house arrest has in effect collapsed the peace deal that ended the country’s 2013-2018 civil war, his party said on Thursday. The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (Unmiss) called for restraint, saying the country stood on the brink of relapsing into widespread conflict.

The UN and African nations expressed fear that the country could be thrust back into "catastrophic" fighting. Kenya's President William Ruto said he would dispatch a special envoy to help defuse tensions.