NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A South Sudanese official says the country's current violence was sparked by an attempt in the presidential guard to disarm members of the minority Nuer tribe.
Choul Laam, chief of staff for the secretary general of the ruling Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement, denied Thursday that there had been a coup plot in South Sudan.
The South Sudan government had said the violence that has killed up to 500 people was caused by coup attempt by former vice president Riek Machar, who is from the Nuer tribe.
The violence is spreading to other areas of the country.
Laam said the violence erupted Sunday when the presidential guard, led by the majority Dinka tribe members of President Salva Kiir, attempted to disarm members of the guard who were from the minority Nuer tribe.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
South Sudan's military said Thursday it no longer controls a key town in an oil-producing state where fighting has spread following what the president described as an attempted coup by soldiers loyal to a former deputy president.
"We lost control of Bor to the rebellion," said Philip Aguer, the South Sudanese military spokesman.
Authorities in Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, were not answering their phones, leading the central government to believe they had defected, said Aguer.
He said there were reported gunfights in Bor overnight as renegade officers tried to wrest control of the town from loyalist forces there.
Jodi Jongole Boyoris, a lawmaker from the area, confirmed that soldiers loyal to ousted Vice President Riek Machar now controlled the town.
Ethnic rivalry is threatening to tear apart the world's newest country, with the clashes apparently pitting soldiers from the majority Dinka tribe of President Salva Kiir against those from Machar's Nuer ethnic group.
While the government insists a coup was foiled Sunday, when heavy gunfire erupted in the capital, Juba, some analysts say it remains unclear what sparked the violence and doubt the government's characterization of violent events in Juba since Sunday. By the government's own account, at least 500 people, mostly soldiers, have been killed in violence in the city since Sunday, raising questions about whether there have been targeted killings on a massive scale.
The International Crisis Group reported that armed groups in Juba have "targeted civilians based on ethnicity."
"What has for some time been a political crisis within the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) has now spilled over into an army that has long been riven by internal problems, including ethnic divisions and tensions," the group said. "The blurred lines between these institutions, senior political figures and ethnic communities — as well as wide-scale arms proliferation — make the current situation particularly volatile."
It called for a respected international mediator at a time when the country's leaders are locked "in high-stakes gambles for power."
Machar, an influential politician who is a hero of the brutal war of independence against Sudan, is Kiir's rival for top leadership of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement party. Tensions had been mounting since Kiir fired Machar as his deputy in July. Machar, the deputy chairman of the ruling party, later said he would contest the presidency in 2015. At the time, the United States and the European Union urged calm amid fears the dismissal could spark political upheaval in the country.
The global political risk think tank Eurasia Group said Kiir's firing of Machar in July had alienated the "long aggrieved Nuer" in a country with "a factionalized military and a history of violent ethnic rivalries."
The group noted that the government's arrest of local leaders with links to the alleged coup was politically motivated, adding that "Nuer leaders will seize on the alleged dictatorial turn within the presidency and the favoring of the president's ethnic Dinka community in the army's promotion decisions to mobilize defections and fresh mutinies."
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon told reporters Wednesday that South Sudan was experiencing a political crisis that "urgently needs to be dealt with through political dialogue." Ban said he urged Kiir "to resume dialogue with the political opposition."
Kiir told a news conference in Juba late Wednesday that he was willing to enter talks with Machar, who is now hiding from the armed forces who are searching for him.
Although a tense calm has now returned to Juba, military clashes appeared to be spreading elsewhere in the oil-rich East African country.
Tensions are also on the rise in the states of Unity and Upper Nile, Martin Nesirky, a spokesman for the U.N. Secretary-general's office, said Wednesday. In Bor, the capital of Jonglei where pro-Machar forces are reportedly now in charge, at least 19 civilians had been killed, he said, citing figures from the South Sudan Red Cross.
___
Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda.
- Politics & Government
- Unrest, Conflicts & War
- South Sudan
- Riek Machar
Source http://news.yahoo.com/south-sudan-blames-violence-ethnic-tensions-115918669.html
Newer articles:
- Ethnic violence spreads in South Sudan - 19/12/2013 20:57
- US, Brits evacuate South Sudan as violence spreads - 19/12/2013 20:14
- South Sudan civil war fears grow as rebels reject talks - 19/12/2013 18:29
- S. Sudan gov't loses control of province capital - 19/12/2013 14:57
- Foreigners evacuate South Sudan as civil war threat grows - 19/12/2013 13:58
Older news items
- South Sudan rebels take flashpoint town - 19/12/2013 11:08
- South Sudan on brink of civil war: analysts - 19/12/2013 10:26
- South Sudan's Machar speaks to Al Jazeera - 19/12/2013 08:10
- South Sudan unrest continues as army loses town - 19/12/2013 06:03
- South Sudan army: 'Not in control of Bor town' - 19/12/2013 02:36
Latest news items (all categories):
- UNDP and the Office of the Vice President Launches the Women and Youth Leadership Program in South Sudan - 14/02/2025 11:37
- The Grave Blunders And The Paradoxical Ways In Leadership Sector - 14/02/2025 11:32
- ADF approves $153.66 million for Uganda-South Sudan electricity interconnection project - 13/02/2025 20:48
- Rwandan peacekeepers in South Sudan get UN service medals for their service - 13/02/2025 20:44
- Afreximbank seeks to claw back US$657mn debt from South Sudan - 13/02/2025 20:30
Random articles (all categories):
- Citizens in South Sudan Commemorate Genocide - AllAfrica.com - 15/04/2012 09:55
- Asylum, Afrobasket and opportunity: South Sudanese-Australian basketball deserves a fair go - 22/06/2020 22:56
- H.E President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Dr Riek Machar Teny brought back our nation into peace building - 16/09/2019 10:46
- Situation Overview: Greater Bahr el Ghazal Region, South Sudan (January - March 2020) - 22/07/2020 01:06
- King of kings’ demise: any lessons for other emerging kings on the continent? - 27/10/2011 01:00
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 73173 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 22398 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 21624 times
- Top 10 weakest currency exchange rates in Africa in 2023 - 19/07/2023 00:24 - Read 19511 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 19259 times