‘Over 150 killed’ in South Sudan fighting

More than 150 soldiers died in fighting between South Sudan’s army and former rebels in the capital Juba on Friday evening, a spokesman for the former rebels said.
“The number of casualties is over 150 killed,” said Roman Nyarji, a spokesman for rebel leader turned Vice President Riek Machar, adding the combined death toll may rise further.
“We are expecting a bigger number of casualties because the two units of the presidential guard were all engaged yesterday,” he said referring to bodyguard units of Machar and his rival President Salva Kiir.
The violence came on the eve of the country’s fifth anniversary of independence and represents another blow to a shaky peace deal that has so far failed to end a civil war that began in December 2013.
The shooting began when Kiir and Machar met at the presidential palace and initially involved their bodyguards.
The shootout, lasting about half an hour, quickly escalated from small-arms fire to heavier weapons and spread with machine-gun and artillery heard in several parts of Juba before subsiding after nightfall.
Kiir and Machar described Friday’s violence as “unfortunate”.
Residents reported quieter streets Saturday, on South Sudan’s fifth anniversary of independence. Many people remained indoors.
“Government leaders are attempting to restore calm. However, these actions are not yet successful. Large numbers of troops remain on the streets,” the US Embassy in Juba said on its Facebook Page .
Some international groups like the International Monetary Fund were evacuating their staff from the country. All foreign and local IMF staff and their families were evacuated as the office relocated temporarily to Nairobi, Kenya, said Philippe Egoume Bossogo, head of the IMF office in South Sudan.
Gunfire continued into Friday night outside a UN base in Juba sheltering more than 25,000 people. Budbud Chol, who oversees security at a clinic inside the base, said Saturday they had received about 40 people wounded by gunfire, all but three of them men.
“They are still coming up to now. All of them are gunshot,” Chol said.

Source: Arab News