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South Sudan clashes kill 14 in renewed violence north

The military announced on Tuesday that at least four soldiers as well as 10 militia members had been killed during fighting in a South Sudanese area where previous clashes resulted in the arrest of the First Vice President Riek Machar.

Machar, a long-time rival of Salva Kiir, was arrested in March. This sparked international calls for restraint. It also sparked fears that a civil war could break out between Kiir Dinka forces loyal to Machar and Nuer fighters loyal Kiir.

Garang Ateny, South Sudan's military spokesperson, said that fighters from the White Army, a group Machar's critics claim is affiliated with the SPLM-IO, the party he leads in Upper Nile, attacked the South Sudanese military on Monday near Nasir, in Upper Nile State.

Early this year, violence erupted in the northeastern town that led to Machar’s arrest.

Ateny stated that the White Army had launched three attacks against the position of the army, and added that the army lost four soldiers during the conflict while 10 attackers died.

It was not possible to reach the spokespeople of SPLM-IO or White Army. Machar and his group deny that they have any links with the White Army.

Since a 2018 agreement that ended a civil war rife with ethnic tensions between the two men, which resulted in hundreds of thousands deaths, Kiir has been a Dinka who shares power with Machar.

Machar's arrest for allegedly trying to incite a revolt through his supposed support of the White Army militia has sparked fears that ethnic conflict will erupt again. (Written by Elias Biryabarema, edited by William Maclean).

(source: Reuters)