The two leaders issued a joint call for calm after Friday’s fighting, which began outside the presidential compound where Kiir and Machar were meeting and soon spread through the city.
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“Saturday was the country’s fifth independence day, but there were no celebrations, only fighting”, he says.
With oil resources supporting its young economy, optimism was high. The latest exchanges were apparently sparked by a shootout between President Kiir’s and Vice President Machar’s bodyguards.
Black smoke rises above Juba, the capital of South Sudan, on Sunday. The violence was especially worrying because of the ethnic tensions involved, as many supporters of the president were Dinka and supporters of Machar, now a rebel leader, were mostly Nuer. About 300 soldiers were reportedly killed in fighting at the weekend.
The violence has raised fears of a return to civil war that broke out in December 2013, characterised by ethnic massacres, rape, murder and the use of child soldiers. Human rights groups have accused both sides of the conflict of grave abuses, including rape, torture, killing civilians and forced displacement.
The fighting in Juba severely threatened a peace deal signed previous year between Kiir and Machar that brought them and their supporters into a transitional coalition government in April.
They were caught in a crossfire on their way from Juba amid intense fighting in the country, said the Kenya Long Distance Truck Drivers and Allied Workers Union.
In April, rebel leader Riek Machar was sworn in as vice president of the country for the second time in five years, a step seen as crucial ahead of a transitional government being formed. The two have yet to integrate their forces – a key part of the peace deal. President Salva Kiir announced a unilateral cease-fire first – though his words were followed by heavy gunfire, the AP writes.
Both Kiir and Machar have ordered a ceasefire.
The U.S. Embassy and Doctors Without Borders are among the organizations pulling out their staffs. The International Monetary Fund this month said the country’s currency has depreciated by nearly 90 percent since December.
Ban did not elaborate on the degree to which United Nations forces in South Sudan could be bolstered, saying he would discuss it with the Security Council.
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Massive explosions were heard in Juba’s Tomping neighborhood, which houses a United Nations compound where at least 3,000 civilians have sought shelter. Malual said he had been displaced by the fighting to a suburb of Juba, suffering from food and water shortages.
