http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/05/us-southsudan-unrest-idUSBREA241ER20140305?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
Clashes erupt at army base over pay in tense South Sudan
By Carl Odera and Aaron Maasho
JUBA/ADDIS ABABA Wed Mar 5, 2014 10:35am EST
JUBA/ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - At least five soldiers were killed in fighting
between soldiers over delayed salaries at a barracks in South Sudan's
capital on Wednesday, an army spokesman said, three months after clashes in
the same military base triggered a broader conflict.
The spokesman said the situation at the base in Juba was now under control.
The latest flare-up did not appear to be between government and rebel
forces, but it highlights tension that persists in the army in Africa's
newest nation that came close to civil war before a January 23 ceasefire
that has proved shaky.
Regional African bloc IGAD has been trying to mediate but a new round of
peace talks has yet to start in earnest. A top mediator said IGAD was
aiming to send a contingent of troops to South Sudan to enforce the
ceasefire and protect vital oil fields, after crude output fell by a third
due to the conflict.
Uganda has raised alarm in the West for sending troops into South Sudan to
assist the government of President Salva Kiir, who is battling forces loyal
to his sacked deputy president, Riek Machar, who commands his forces from
the bush.
Spokesman for the government SPLA army Malak Ayuen said Wednesday's clashes
erupted between body guards of commando commander Gatwech Gai, one of the
few Nuer senior officers not to defect to Machar, also an ethnic Nuer. Kiir
is a Dinka.
He said at least five soldiers were killed in the fighting that was sparked
by some soldiers "asking from their commander why their salaries had been
delayed".
"We are in a crisis, it was something beyond our control and that is why
the salaries were going out now," Ayuen said. "The situation is now under
control."
Several of South Sudan's neighbors worry about turning the conflict into a
regional tussle, and are frustrated by the continued violations of the
ceasefire.
GUNFIRE, BILLOWS OF SMOKE
Wednesday's fighting was in the same barracks where clashes erupted in
mid-December and led to a broader conflict that has killed thousands and
driven more than 800,000 people from their homes. The conflict has
re-opened deep ethnic faultlines.
Gunfire sent people in Juba scurrying through the streets for safety. Smoke
billowed out of the barracks, which the spokesman said was caused by stores
hit during the fighting.
IGAD is discussing a "protection and stabilization force" with the African
Union and United Nations to monitor the cessation of hostilities and
protect oil fields, officials said.
"The parties would be tempted to fight for control of these resources and
if this is protected by this force then definitely it will further
stabilize the situation in South Sudan," Seyoum Mesfin, IGAD's chief
mediator, told a news conference.
Both sides have accused the other of breaking the truce. The worst fighting
since the ceasefire was in Malakal, the capital of South Sudan's main oil
producing Upper Nile State.
Overall oil output has fallen to 160,000 barrels per day from about 245,000
bpd before the conflict flared in December.
Seyoum said Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi were ready to
contribute troops to the force, whose size and mandate would be determined
at a meeting in Addis Ababa of regional heads of state within the next two
weeks.
Officials said it could involve sending a "small contingent" of about 2,000
troops.
"We want to make it cost effective and affordable for the international
community to sustain this mission," Seyoum said, adding other standby
forces could be sent if violence persisted.
IGAD-sponsored talks are due to resume on March 20 after delays over rebel
demands for the freeing of four detainees who rebels say are political
prisoners but the government calls coup plotters.
(Writing by Aaron Maasho and Richard Lough; Editing by Edmund Blair and
Ralph Boulton)
Received on Wed Mar 05 2014 - 11:01:42 EST