NAIROBI: The head of South Sudan’s state television has been arrested, his wife told Reuters on Saturday, after failing to carry a live broadcast of President Salva Kiir’s speech during independence day celebrations this week.

Adil Faris Mayat’s arrest underscores continuing harassment of journalists in South Sudan where a four-year civil war pitting Kiir’s military against the opposition led by his former deputy, Riek Machar, is spreading and growing deadlier.

Government officials were unavailable for comment. Calls to the information minister, his deputy and the president’s spokesman were unanswered.

In 2015, five journalists were killed in the country, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Mayat, director of South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), was arrested on July 10 by security officials for failing to broadcast Kiir’s speech live.—AFP