South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his first deputy Dr Riek Machar are struggling to maintain calm after a clash between their forces in Juba resulted in the death of five soldiers.
Tension remains high in Juba as both sides blame each other for starting the Thursday evening scuffle.
Dr Machar’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, said that their Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement-in Opposition (SPLM-IO) soldiers were attacked at 8 p.m. as they traveling in a vehicle on Gudele Road taking food to the night guards of Dr Machar.
He said a number of soldiers have been killed on the other side (SPLA), while two of their soldiers sustained wounds.
“The clash which lasted for more than 10 minutes has however stopped and our soldiers have returned to their base at Jebel Kujur. They have however remained vigilant. The situation is tense, but we hope the other side will stop the provocations to resume war,” he said
Mr Dak said that President Kiir and Dr Machar spoke on the phone at 8:50 pm shortly after the clashes and agreed to restrain their forces.
However, SPLA spokesperson, Gen Lul Ruai Koang, on his Facebook page claimed that SPLA-IO was responsible for the Juba clashes although he did not explain how the fighting started.
The same evening at around 9 p.m., unknown gunmen sprayed bullets on a vehicle carrying seven US diplomats near the American Embassy in Thong Piny, but they were not harmed because the vehicle was armoured.
Tension had been building in the last two weeks after SPLM-IO complained that soldiers loyal to President Kiir have been systematically eliminating their soldiers and have so far killed five.
President Kiir and Dr Machar formed the transitional government of national unity on April 29, but the operations of the new government has been hampered by continued suspicions from the two sides and a freeze on donor funding.
Earlier in the week, Second Vice President James Wani Igga warned that the country could become ungovernable if the security forces don’t address the issue of unknown gunmen that have been killing people in Juba. He gave the warning after the killing of two officers belonging to SPLM-IO.
Source: The East African
