Permanent ceasefire begins in South Sudan's civil war

A permanent ceasefire has begun in South Sudan in the latest attempt to end a five-year civil war. President Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar agreed on the cease-fire this week after their first face-to-face talks in almost two years. 

South Sudan was facing a possible UN arms embargo and



sanctions if the fighting didn't stop and a political deal wasn't reached by today. Multiple attempts at peace have failed in the past. 

Thousands of people have been killed in the civil war that erupted in the country just two years after independence from Sudan.