South Sudan lurching toward genocidal conflict

The "White Army" is reportedly marching on the town of Bor in South Sudan. The Nuer tribe-based militia was dubbed for the white ash fighters rub on their skin to ward off insects. /Image via guardianlv.com

The world's youngest nation is on the brink of a fraternal bloodbath.

With widespread reports that the "White Army," an ethnic militia drawn from former Vice President Riek Machar's Nuer tribe, is on the march, time is running out to stop a genocidal civil war.

Anti-government forces appear determined to gain control of Bor, a strategic town in the oil-rich central region of South Sudan. Government troops loyal to President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and rebels aligned with Machar have been fighting over Bor for nearly two weeks.

Reports that the youth-heavy, poorly disciplined White Army is bearing down on Bor are ominous.

The Nuer militia, armed with weapons ranging from automatic rifles to machetes and long knives, has been linked to a 1991 massacre in Bor that claimed about 2,000 lives. Most of the dead were members of the Dinka tribe.

Kiir claims Machar was among the leaders of an attempted coup on Dec. 15. It is far from clear who is controlling the militias and armed groups that have been fighting in South Sudan since the alleged coup attempt. But it is clear the country is spinning out of control.

Refugees crowd a U.N. compound in South Sudan in December 2013. /U.N. image