Germany has temporarily closed its embassy in South Sudan over the worsening conflict in the East African country.
The country’s Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, announced the measure on social media platform Bluesky on Saturday.
The minister said the German government’s crisis management team decided to close the embassy in the capital Juba due to the worsening situation.
She said: “After years of fragile peace, South Sudan is once again on the brink of civil war.
“The safety of our colleagues is our top priority.”
South Sudan secured its independence from Sudan in 2011 but soon fell into a brutal civil war.
In 2020, President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar formed a joint transitional government, but the deal is now in danger of failing.
A militia containing members of the Nuer ethnic group, to which Machar belongs, has been fighting government soldiers for weeks near the border to Ethiopia.
Government forces have bombed civilian targets, while the United Nations helicopters were shot at during a rescue mission.
Dozens of people have been killed in the fighting, with the military accusing Machar’s party of fuelling the conflict, while the vice president accused Kiir of attacking his supporters.
Although the fighting is taking place more than 1,300 kilometres away from the capital, the violence could spread to other parts of the country.
In recent days, diplomats from the European Union, the United States, and other Western countries have offered to mediate between Kiir and Machar.