Civilians fleeing violence seek refuge at a UN camp in Bor, capital of Jonglei state, in South Sudan.Source: AP
UGANDAN soldiers last night landed in Juba in a bid to stabilise the South Sudanese capital, as US President Barack Obama warned Africa's newest nation stood on the "precipice" of civil war.
The Ugandan troops responded to a request from South Sudan's government, with the first batch of special forces soldiers helping to secure the airport and assist in the evacuation of Ugandan nationals from Juba.
Mr Obama called for an immediate end to the unrest that has so far left close to 500 dead, most of them civilians.
"Recent fighting threatens to plunge South Sudan back into the dark days of its past," he said.
"South Sudan stands at the precipice."
As clashes between rival factions of the South Sudanese army continue to escalate, Ugandan army spokesman Paddy Ankunda confirmed that troops had been sent to Juba, but said they were there to evacuate Ugandan nationals.
"We have sent an evacuation mission into Juba. The first people being evacuated will land in Entebbe in the next hour," he said.
The US and Britain were also evacuating their citizens on flights out of Juba.
Fighting has engulfed Africa's newest nation, with mutinous troops seizing control of a key town and three peacekeepers killed in an attack on a UN base where civilians had taken refuge.
South Sudan's military spokesman Colonel Philip Arguer said the town of Bor, 200km north of the capital, Juba, had fallen to enemy forces yesterday.
He added that the government had lost contact with its units in Bor, the capital of Jonglei, the country's largest state. "Bor is no longer under our control," Colonel Arguer said.
Fighting also broke out in Unity State, a northern region that is home to key oilfields. The UN reported that oil workers were taking shelter in its compound in the capital city. South Sudan is one of Africa's biggest oil producers, and the industry provides the majority of the country's revenue.
The country has been in turmoil since Sunday night, when fighting between presidential guard units in the capital sparked ethnic clashes throughout the city.
By yesterday, fighting had erupted in six of the country's 10 states, the UN said. Three Indian peacekeepers were killed when armed youths breached a UN compound at Akobo, in Jonglei, according to India's UN ambassador, Asoke Mukerji.
It was feared there may be other casualties, as the fate of more than 30 ethnic Dinka civilians sheltering at the base was not known. "We have received reports of people killed and injured and are in the process of verifying," said UN deputy secretary-general Jan Eliasson.
The spreading violence is an ominous sign for a young nation that remains a tinderbox of ethnic rivalries. A war with Sudan, which led to the country's independence in 2011, papered over these tensions, which have now resurfaced in a nation not yet three years old.
"The army is basically a set of rebel groups that integrated together into a national army. So when that starts to splinter, people go back to their old commanders," said Akshaya Kumar, an analyst with the Washington-based Enough Project, a human-rights group.
Meanwhile, Juba residents told Human Rights Watch that members of the Dinka ethnic group had gone from house to house executing members of the Nuer ethnic group. Tanks drove into residential compounds and demolished houses, crushing those who stood in their way, the New York-based advocacy group said.
However, the government insists the clashes are over power and politics, not ethnic differences, noting that both sides include leaders from different tribes.
There was no more gunfire in Juba yesterday but about 20,000 people were still sleeping at UN compounds there.
"The most important thing is their safety and if they feel that's in question, then we're here to help," said Toby Lanzer, the UN deputy representative for South Sudan.
The US and Britain, meanwhile, were evacuating their citizens on flights out of Juba.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group said that what had started as a political dispute risked spiralling out of control. "South Sudan, the world's newest state, is now arguably on the cusp of a civil war," it said.
The outbreak of fighting comes just as South Sudan was emerging from disputes with Sudan over oil exports.
It is a sobering development for Western governments that used aid and influence to carve the republic from Sudan in 2011.
President Salva Kiir said on Monday that his forces had thwarted a coup attempt and were mopping up mutineers. Two days later, the insurrection's leader, former vice-president Riek Machar, denied in an interview with the local Sudan Tribune trying to overthrow Mr Kiir but said he now believed Mr Kiir needed to be removed.
Mr Machar's location isn't publicly known. He could not be reached for comment.
Mr Machar, who fought on both sides during Sudan's 1983-2005 civil war, has been accused of leading a brutal massacre in Bor in 1991.
The UN has urged the men to meet for peace talks. Mr Kiir has said he is ready. Uganda's Foreign Ministry said Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had been in touch with Mr Kiir.
Mr Machar was Mr Kiir's deputy until July, when the President fired him in what many saw as a push to consolidate power ahead of elections in 2015. Mr Machar had announced that he would run against Mr Kiir. The men were allies in the fight for independence but were previously rivals.
Mr Kiir is an ethnic Dinka and Mr Machar an ethnic Nuer. Their political clash appears to have inflamed deep and bitter ethnic divisions. The Dinka and the Nuer are the country's largest ethnic groups, with a history of mutual animosity.
It was an uprising in Bor in 1983 that sparked a civil war in the then Sudan that lasted more than two decades.
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