At least 23 people have been killed and 17 wounded in four weeks of fighting in northern South Sudan, authorities and police said on Sunday, as thousands of people fled their homes.
The clashes took place in the Ruweng administrative area, where fighters from Riek Machar’s SPLA-IO force entered from neighbouring Unity state, according to Ruweng information minister Tony Chol Ayat. He told AFP that fighting between October 4 and Thursday left 23 people dead and 17 wounded. Two police sources confirmed the toll to AFP.
Chol Ayat said more than 100,000 people had fled the fighting. A police source confirmed only that “thousands” had left, so the scale of displacement remains uncertain.
A resident told AFP that SPLA-IO fighters started the fighting, adding that “the government built up forces on the front lines and the rebel armies were repelled.” Another resident said there were fears of heightened conflict. A South Sudan army spokesman would not comment, and Machar’s forces did not respond to an AFP query.
The fighting in Ruweng comes amid wider unrest across South Sudan in recent weeks. Hundreds of people have died in clashes between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of detained former vice president Riek Machar, as well as in other ethnic unrest, as the country heads towards national elections scheduled for December 22.
South Sudan has been independent since 2011. Forces loyal to Kiir and Machar fought a civil war from 2013 to 2018 that left more than 400,000 people dead. The country’s first presidential and legislative election has already been postponed several times, and a UN human rights commission has said an election held amid current tensions could unleash widespread new conflict.
