Ethnic violence in South Sudan, 5 dead

South Sudan's military spokesman said a "misunderstanding" between military troops and a local community sparked clashes that killed five troops. Colonel Philip Aguer said Saturday that the trainees were members of the Nuer minority, the same ethnic group that killed hundreds of people in Bentiu this month, AP reported. A rebel spokesman claims that huge numbers of Nuer military trainees were killed in the latest incident Friday. Rebel Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang said that 220 Nuer officers and trainees at Mapel Military Training Centre in Western Bahr El Ghazal state were deliberately killed. Either statement is impossible to verify. Koang's claims in the past have been wildly exaggerated, but military and government death tolls announced to the public have also sometimes been underreported. Aguer denied that Koang's claims were true. The recent massacre in Bentiu has alarmed the international community, and the UN Security Council expressed "horror" and deplored the use of radio broadcasts to "foment hate and sexual violence" in the attack.