Army loses control of town to rebellion

A ruling party official said the president’s earlier claim that an attempted coup had triggered the fighting was false.

Instead, the violence erupted on Sunday when the presidential guard attempted to disarm fellow guard members who belong to the Nuer tribe, said Choul Laam, of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

Those who tried to do the disarming were members of the majority Dinka tribe of President Salva Kiir, Mr Laam told reporters in Nairobi.

The South Sudan government has said the violence has killed up to 500 people. The fighting started in Juba, the capital, and while it was reported calm there on Wednesday and yesterday, clashes were reported in Jonglei state as ethnic rivalry and a power struggle between the president and his ousted deputy strained the seams of the world’s newest country.

“The situation in South Sudan can be best described as tense and fragile. If it is not contained it could lead to ethnic cleansing,” Mr Laam said. The International Crisis Group reported that armed groups in Juba have “targeted civilians based on ethnicity”.

Authorities in Bor, the capital of Jonglei, were not answering their phones, leading the central government to believe they had defected, said Philip Aguer, the South Sudanese military spokesman. “We lost control of Bor to the rebellion,” he said.

He said there were reported gunfights in Bor overnight as renegade officers tried to wrest control of the town from loyalist forces. At least 19 civilians had been killed there, said Martin Nesirky, a spokesman for the UN Secretary-general’s office.

President Kiir had announced to the nation that the violence was started by an attempted coup led by ousted Vice President Riek Machar. Machar, a Nuer, has denied he was behind any coup attempt. Jodi Jongole Boyoris, a politician from Jonglei, said soldiers loyal to Mr Machar now control Bor.