In December 2013 , President Kiir accused Judgment_communication his former deputy Riek Machar and ten others of attempting a coup d'état .

Machar denied Statement trying to start Process_start a coup and fled Escaping to lead the SPLM – in opposition ( SPLM-IO ) .

Machar returned Arriving to Juba in 2016 and was appointed Choosing vice president .

Kiir replaced Change_of_leadership Machar as First Vice President with Taban Deng Gai , splitting Destroying the opposition , and rebel in-fighting has become Becoming of major part of the conflict Hostile_encounter .

Kiir 's Dinka ethnic group has been accused Judgment_communication of attacking Attack other ethnic groups and Machar 's Nuer ethnic group has been accused Judgment_communication of attacking Attack the Dinka .