Salva Kiir, South Sudan’s President has dismissed accusations of ethnic bias within the country’s armed forces following the resignation of the deputy army chief, who said the military orchestrated violence in 2013 along tribal lines.

According to Ceoafrica, Lt Gen Thomas Cirillo Swaka who is highest-ranking official to resign since renewed clashes broke out between military factions last July, described South Sudan’s conflict as “tribally engineered”, accusing the leadership of recruiting people from the ethnic Dinka group to strategic positions.

Swaka was the highest-ranking army officer from the Equatorial region, which has seen ethnically targeted killings; he also accused the government of deliberately violating a 2015 peace agreement and prolonging the country’s civil war.

President Salva Kiir has denied the claims, saying the dominance of his Dinka group in the force was not a result of bias, but because others simply did not sign up during military recruitment.

The United Nations Security Council has condemned the continued fighting in South Sudan, particularly in the Equatorial and Upper Nile regions, and has also accused both government troops and rebels of committing atrocities during the conflict.

More than 3.5 million people have been displaced since the outbreak of the civil war in December 2013.