Hours after the declaration by Kiir, gunfire could still be heard, although it was unclear if was fighting or troops firing in celebration.
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An estimated 83,000 people are seeking refuge in churches, schools and outside the peacekeeping base of the U.N. mission, according to the United Nations.
“The condition is really very bad”. “I think one of the tanks must be near me, my ears are burning”. Among the wounded are five children and two women while the rest were men, he said.
Government forces took over the opposition base in Jebel, leaving the opposition forces with only their camp in the Gudele area as a foothold in Juba, said William Gatjiath Deng, opposition spokesman.
The global community played a major role in the creation of South Sudan and has tried to exercise some influence since independence in 2011.
The UN Security Council has condemned the violence “in the strongest terms” and urged warring groups to control their forces. Ban singled out the killing of two Chinese peacekeepers for condemnation.
As well as the weapons embargo, Ban urged the UN Security Council to implement further sanctions on leaders blocking the enactment of the peace agreement, and the fortification of the country’s UN mission, which he said “desperately” needs attack helicopters and other equipment to protect civilians.
Witnesses said “very, very heavy fighting” was taking place, with residents barricading themselves inside houses and aid workers holed up in bunkers while the U.S. embassy warned of “serious fighting between government and opposition forces”.
“I am shocked and appalled by the heavy fighting that is now taking place in Juba”.
The Embassy of India in Juba also asked Indian citizens living in South Sudan but now desirous to leave the country to register themselves with the mission so that necessary arrangement for evacuation could be made. “There is a particular responsibility on South Sudan’s leaders to urgently restore stability and to recommit to full implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan”, he added.
Through the civil war, however, world powers and regional states struggled to find leverage over the warring factions, despite USA and European sanctions on some military leaders and African threats of punitive actions.
An Al Jazeera correspondent who was inside the presidential compound during that attack later saw bodies of soldiers on the lawn and reported that thousands of displaced residents were trying to find safety amid the chaos.
Explosions and gunfire continued for a fifth day Monday, including attacks by government forces on the United Nations base and camp that houses thousands of civilians who have fled the violence. Both compounds were hit on Sunday, she said.
The Embassy in a statement said, all options are being considered to provide relief to them. “US citizens in Juba should remain vigilant. shelter in a safe location, preferably away from doors and windows, and avoid non-essential movements”.
Japan ordered three C-130 transport planes to an its military base in Djibouti, 1,900 miles east of Juba, yesterday to prepare to evacuate Japanese citizens trapped by the fighting.
Fighting and gunfire again erupted in South Sudan’s capital today.
More than 250 people are reported to have died in clashes since Friday.
Fighting paused briefly on Saturday – the fifth independence anniversary of the world’s youngest nation – but deadly clashes resumed on Sunday.
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The fifth day of fighting between government and opposition forces in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, raises fears that the conflict will spread across the country, drawing in more ethnic militias beyond the Dinka and Nuer.
