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JUBA, South Sudan Fighting between competing factions of South Sudans government in its capital left the worlds youngest country teetering on Saturday, the fifth anniversary of its independence. The government reported dozens of casualties, and there were unconfirmed reports that up to 150 people had been killed.
Outbreaks of shooting on Friday night between forces loyal to the countrys president, Salva Kiir, and forces loyal to its vice president, Riek Machar, surprised both leaders, said Ateny Wek Ateny, a spokesman for Mr. Kiir. Heavy gunfire was exchanged across neighborhoods during the night, including outside the presidential palace, where the two leaders were meeting.
Mr.
Machar became the leader of a formal rebellion in December 2013,
until he returned in April to join the government.
Mr. Ateny said many people, mostly soldiers, had been killed in
the latest bout of fighting. It is too early to talk about
the number of casualties because the fighting was heavy, and the
military is actually forming a committee to investigate,
he said.
The
Associated Press reported that scores of bodies had been taken
to Jubas hospital and morgue. The morgue at the main hospital
was roped off and guarded by policemen, who did not relay information
about the casualties inside.
A lot of people were wounded, hurt and killed, last night,
said Jürg Eglin, the head of the International Committee
of the Red Cross in South Sudan.
The general situation is confusing, Mr. Eglin said.
We have no clear picture of what actually happened, or who
was attacked.
Soldiers
rode along the main thoroughfares in trucks and motorcycles on
Saturday, or stood watch on street corners. But with shops closed
and most civilians staying home, the streets of Juba were mostly
quiet.
The United States Embassy in Juba warned that the capital was
not stable, and warned civilians against venturing outside.
The situation in Juba remains fluid, the embassy said
in a statement. Government leaders are attempting to restore
calm. However, these actions are not yet successful. Large numbers
of troops remain on the streets.
Tensions
between the forces of Mr. Kiir and Mr. Machar, always lurking
beneath the surface, first erupted Thursday night, when two factions
confronted each other at a roadside checkpoint. Five government
soldiers were reported killed.
South Sudans military said it was treating that attack as
an isolated incident, but heavy exchanges broke out
again on Friday. At one United Nations camp, up to 25,000 people
took shelter from the fighting.
For
many years, southern Sudans political factions worked together
in brittle alliances to fight for independence from Sudan.
The United States played an instrumental role in securing South
Sudans independence and statehood from Sudan, after decades
of resistance fighting, and Mr. Kiir became South Sudans
first president, and Mr. Machar its first vice president, on July
9, 2011. But factions soon turned their grievances toward one
another.
Mr.
Kiir dismissed his cabinet in July 2013 over the tensions, and
violence broke out that December, quickly splitting the nation
along largely ethnic lines. Mr. Kiir belongs to the Dinka ethnic
group, the countrys largest, while Mr. Machar is a member
of the Nuer minority.
Mr. Machar fled the capital and became the leader of a formal
rebellion, but he returned this year under a peace agreement.
Tens
of thousands of civilians and soldiers were killed in the civil
war and in related violence.
This is the most perilous moment for South Sudan since the
violence of December 2013, said John Ryle, the director
of the Rift Valley Institute and an analyst on the two Sudans.
The
shooting that erupted as both leaders were meeting inside the
presidential palace, Mr. Ryle said, reveals the uncertain
control they exercise over their own security forces and
the extreme fragility of the peace accord.