By Parach Mach
JUBA, South Sudan (AA) – Dozens of people have been killed in the South Sudanese capital of Juba following clashes between forces under First Vice President Riek Machar and South Sudanese Army under President Salva Kiir, officials told Anadolu Agency Saturday.
Fighting erupted inside the country’s presidential palace at around 5.30 p.m. (1430GMT) Friday when Kiir and rebel leader Machar were in meeting to resolve differences following skirmishes between their respective forces Thursday that left at least five government soldiers dead.
South Sudanese Defense Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk told Anadolu Agency the situation remained tense.
“I cannot tell exactly the number of casualties because it is too early to know, the situation is still tense but what I can say is that fighting has stopped,” Juuk said.
A military source, who requested not to be named due to safety concerns, confirmed to Anadolu Agency that more than 80 bodies had been taken to the country’s military hospital, Giada, since the fighting began.
Another medical source at the country’s main hospital, Juba Teaching Hospital, told local media that 109 dead bodies had been taken to the hospital.
An independent confirmation of the death toll remains impossible due to volatile situation on the ground and restricted access to media.
Opposition forces’ Gen. James Koang Chol said his military leadership was working in coordination with the South Sudan Army, also known as the SPLA, to maintain calm in the capital.
“This is not something intended by the two leaders,” Gen. Koang told a local radio.
In April last, Machar, accompanied by more than 1,300 of his fighters had arrived in Juba under a peace deal to join Kiir in the formation of a coalition government seeking to end more than two years of bloody civil war in the country.
However, on Saturday, when the youngest nation in the world marked its fifth anniversary from Sudan after more than 50 years of bitter struggle, the South Sudanese capital remained tense and under heavy curfew.
Despite the 2015 peace agreement to end the conflict that began in December 2013, and despite small numbers of displaced people returning home, over 2 million people spread across seven countries continue to live in exile.
As they yearn for a lasting peace that would allow them to return and rebuild South Sudan, those displaced need help now, according to the UNHCR.
South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan on July 2011.
