“This was a surprise move given that Akol Koor had maintained the job for 13 years and had become the second most powerful person in Juba, commanding a force better equipped than the national army,” Daniel Akech, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, told AFP.

Akech said the reasons were not clear for the change, but he speculated that Koor may have opposed recent peace moves by President Salva Kiir.

Kiir has been in talks with rebel groups who refused to sign a peace deal that ended the brutal 2013-2018 civil war.

The intelligence chief is said to have been opposed to bringing these groups back into the fold, said Akech.

But removing him was “a bold move because it carried security risks,” he added.

“Anything is possible in this volatile political environment,” said Akech.

South Sudan has battled severe flooding, hunger and violence since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.

The 2018 peace deal brought together President Salva Kiir and bitter rival Vice President Riek Machar, but efforts to write a constitution and hold the country’s first-ever elections have been repeatedly delayed.

Last month, Kiir’s office announced that it was again postponing elections planned for December by a further two years.

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© Agence France-Presse