Rebels target country’s lifeblood
Kampala, Uganda – South Sudan’s central government lost control of the capital of a key oilproducing state today, the military said, as renegade forces loyal to a former vice-president seized more territory in fighting that has raised fears of a full-blown civil war in the world’s newest country.
Bentiu, the capital of oil-rich Unity state, was now controlled by a military commander loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar, said Colonel Philip Aguer, the South Sudanese military spokesman.
‘‘Bentiu is in the hands of a commander who has declared support for Machar,’’ he said. ‘‘Bentiu is not in our hands.’’
The armed rebels were said to be in control days earlier of some of South Sudan’s oilfields, which have historically been a target for rebel movements, endangering the country’s economic lifeblood.
Although the country’s capital, Juba, is mostly peaceful a week after a dispute among members of the presidential guard triggered violent clashes between military factions, fighting continues as the central government tries to assert its authority in the states of Unity and Jonglei.
Bor, the capital of Jonglei, is said to be the scene of some of the fiercest clashes between government troops and rebels.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan said today that all non-critical staff in Juba were being evacuated to Uganda. The mission said the move was ‘‘a pre- cautionary measure to reduce pressures on its limited resources’’. It is providing assistance and shelter to over 20,000 civilians inside its compounds in Juba.
The United States and other countries have been evacuating their citizens from South Sudan, as violence escalates in the world’s newest country and threatens lives and oil production.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting, and world leaders are concerned about full- blown civil war in a country with a history of ethnic violence and divided military loyalties.
Yesterday, gunfire hit three US military aircraft trying to evacuate American citizens in Bor, wounding four US service personnel. Gunfire downed a UN helicopter in the same region on Saturday.
Earlier this week the top military general in Bor defected with his troops, starting a rebellion that appears to be spreading to other parts of the country.
Aguer said Bor was still under the control of pro-Machar forces, disputing reports that the rebels had fled as government troops advanced on the city.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, earlier this week said an attempted coup had triggered the violence, and the blame was placed on Machar, an ethnic Nuer. But officials have since said a fight between proDinka and pro-Nuer members of the presidential guard triggered the clashes that later spread across the country.
Machar’s ouster earlier this year stoked ethnic tensions. Machar, who has labelled Kiir a dictator, later said he would contest presidential elections in 2015.