Gunfire rang out in South Sudan’s capital on Friday hours after five soldiers died in clashes between rival factions, raising fears for a fragile peace process in the world’s newest nation.
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The country again plunged into conflict in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup, which the latter denied, leading to a cycle of retaliatory killings. Two soldiers from his side were wounded, he said.
There was also renewed fighting on Saturday morning at about 3:00am until 6:00am around the spot where the father of South Sudan, John Garanga was laid to rest.
Gunfire erupted at the presidential palace in South Sudan’s capital Juba on Friday. He said he had seen the bodies of at least three soldiers.
The opposing army factions have been stationed in Juba since April, part of a peace deal signed last year to unite the warring factions after more than two years of civil war in which tens of thousands of people were killed. The country’s leaders said they did not know what was happening just beyond the walls of the compound, according to Radio Tamazuj, a Sudanese news outlet.
In other incidents, a United Nations worker was reportedly injured in a separate shooting and a U.S. embassy vehicle was also shot at, Roman said.
The Special Representative of the Secretary General and head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, SRSG Ellen Margrethe Loej, also urged all parties on the eve of the country’s fifth independence anniversary to cease fire and to focus on the implementation of the peace agreement.
The previous evening, members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M), loyal to President Salva Kiir, clashed with members of the entourage of Riek Machar, leader of the SPLM In Opposition (SPLM-IO), at Lou Clinic in an area of town called Gudele. The doctor insisted on speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears for his safety.
In a statement Friday, the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission that oversees the cease-fire said the recent fighting in many parts of the country could be in “flagrant violation” of the peace deal.
The opposing army factions, led by Kiir and Machar separately, have been stationed in Juba since April after the warring parties signed a peace agreement past year.
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The Thursday clash follows rising tension in the city. News stories displayed here appear in our category for worldwide and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization.
