Violence Spreads In South Sudan

President Salva Kiir

Fighting between military factions has spread from the capital to the rural state of Jonglei in South Sudan, prompting fears of a wider conflict.

South Sudanese military spokesman Colonel Philip Aguer told the AP news agency on Wednesday that there was fighting overnight among troops in Jonglei, and he was trying to confirm reports there of desertions from the military.
Violence erupted on Sunday in the capital moments before President Salva Kiir announced that security forces had put down an attempted coup by supporters of his former deputy.
At a press conference on Wednesday Kiir said he is willing to sit down with the former vice president for talks, but said “I do not know what the results of the talks will be.”
In Bor, in Jonglei state, where Nuer soldiers loyal to Machar in 1991 massacred hundreds of Dinka, the ethnic group of Kiir, the locals feared the fighting could spill beyond the barracks.
Casie Copeland, the South Sudan analyst for the International Crisis Group, said key Nuer leaders in the army are defecting in Jonglei, in an escalation of the conflict.
“The situation is no longer contained to Juba. This extension of conflict to the state-level is deeply concerning and poses serious challenges for ongoing efforts to reduce hostilities,” she said.
In Juba, residents reported a tense calm after sporadic gunfire overnight, with traffic returning to the streets.
“Most people are scared they might be confronted with a mob or see dead bodies,” said one aid worker in Juba, adding that the city was calmer on Wednesday morning, after residents awoke to heavy gunfire and artillery blasts on Monday and Tuesday.
At least 10 senior former government officials have been arrested, including six cabinet ministers, said Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth. The government named the men on its website.
Political tensions have been mounting since Machar’s dismissal. The former vice president has said he would run for president and has accused Kiir of being dictatorial.
Kiir had said before the clashes that his rivals were reviving rifts that provoked infighting in the 1990s.
He has faced public criticism for doing little to improve life in one of Africa’s poorest nations.