S. Sudan army loses town; civil war fears rise

The South Sudanese army says it has lost control of the flashpoint town of Bor, and concerns are rising that three days of clashes between rival army factions is pushing the African country into civil war.

“We (are) not in control of Bor town,” South Sudan’s army spokesman Philip Aguer said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Moreover, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said there are signs that the violence that has claimed hundreds of lives in South Sudan is spreading to other parts of the country.

“I am deeply concerned about the current situation in South Sudan. I spoke to [South Sudanese] President Salva Kiir yesterday morning urging him to do everything possible he can to end the violence and to ensure a respect for human rights and the rule of law. I also impressed on him the need to resume dialogue with the political opposition,” Ban said on Wednesday.

“This is a political crisis and urgently needs to be dealt with through political dialogue,” he added. “There is a risk of this violence spreading to other states (in South Sudan) as we have already seen some signs of this.”

Meanwhile, Gerard Araud, France’s ambassador to the United Nations and current president of the UN Security Council said, “The two main ethnic groups, the Dinka and the Nuer, could go into a full-fledged civil war in the country.”

Earlier in the day, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said that at least 19 civilians died in new clashes between rival factions of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) at a military camp in Bor, the capital of Jonglei state.

According to witnesses, fighting broke out in two barracks in Bor between troops loyal to Salva Kiir, who is from the Dinka ethnic group, and opposition leader Riek Machar, who is a Nuer.

On Tuesday, UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told the UN Security Council that up to 500 people had been killed in clashes since Sunday following an alleged coup attempt in the capital Juba.

The violence has also forced about 20,000 people to seek refuge at UN facilities in Juba.

The South Sudanese president accused his archrival and former deputy, Machar, of attempting to topple his government, but he said the coup attempt had been foiled.

The government said earlier on Tuesday that ten senior political figures were arrested after the alleged coup attempt.

South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 after its people overwhelmingly voted in a referendum for a split from the North.

The government in Juba is grappling with rampant corruption, unrest and conflict in the deeply impoverished but oil-rich nation, left devastated by decades of war.