South Sudan is in "alarming regression" as clashes in recent weeks in the northeast threaten to undo years of progress towards peace, the UN commission on human rights in the country warned on Saturday.

On Friday, a South Sudanese general and dozens of soldiers were killed when a U.N. helicopter trying to evacuate them from Nasir came under attack, the government said.

A United Nations rights body on Saturday said increased violence and political friction in South Sudan threaten its fragile peace process. Chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan,

The 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), signed by President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, has faced mounting challenges, particularly in unifying armed groups to form a national army.

NAIROBI - Increased violence and political friction in South Sudan threaten its fragile peace process, a United Nations rights body said on Saturday, days after the arrests of several officials allied to the country's vice president.