South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar has been charged with murder, treason and crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in attacks by an ethnic militia against federal forces in March, the justice minister said on Thursday.

Machar was charged along with seven others, including Puot Kang Chol, the former minister of petroleum, in connection with attacks by the White Army militia in the northeastern Upper Nile State, Justice Minister Joseph Geng told reporters.

Machar, whose opposition forces battled forces loyal to President Salva Kiir during a 2013-2018 civil war that resulted in an estimated 400,000 deaths, has been under house arrest since March.

Earlier on Thursday, South Sudan’s Justice Minister Joseph Geng Akech said that First Vice President Machar will answer to charges relating to treason, murder, and crimes against humanity.

In early March, an armed group from Machar’s ethnic Nuer community, known as the White Army, attacked a military base in Nasir County, Upper Nile State in the northeast of the country. The government says Machar was responsible and has now charged him and 20 others with serious crimes, including conspiracy against the state and destruction of public property.

The military base in Nasir was overrun by the White Army between March 3 and 7, 2025. “This case sends a clear message: those who commit atrocities against the people of South Sudan, against our armed forces, and against humanitarian personnel will be held accountable, no matter their position or political influence,” Justice Minister Joseph Geng Akech said on Thursday.

Machar’s political party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), has, on several occasions, rejected allegations that the first vice president was involved in the Nasir military base raid.