Uganda army chief says troops deployed to South Sudan capital

Ugandan army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba

Ugandan special forces have been deployed to South Sudan's capital, the Ugandan army chief said Tuesday, after rising tensions that have threatened a fragile peace agreement.

Impoverished South Sudan has long been plagued by political instability and insecurity, but concerns have risen sharply in the past week after clashes between forces allied to the country's leaders in the northeast.

"As of 2 days ago, our Special Forces units entered Juba to secure it," Ugandan army chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba said on X.

"We shall protect the entire territory of South Sudan like it was our own," the son of Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni and infamous for his incendiary X posts, added.

Ugandan army spokesman Felix Kulayigye confirmed that troops had been deployed in the capital "to protect the government".

"We had instructions to deploy and we deployed the troops there," he told AFP.