JUBA, South Sudan: Five South Sudanese government soldiers were killed in a shootout late Thursday between opposing army factions in the capital, a military official said Friday, and the U.N. mission reported an attack on a senior official amid fears of a return to civil war in the world’s newest country. A convoy of soldiers loyal to former rebel leader and sitting First Vice President Riek Machar opened fire on a checkpoint in Juba manned by troops from President Salva Kiir’s faction, said Lul Ruai Koang, a spokesman for government troops. Koang said five soldiers were killed.
“We returned fire but it was limited fire,” he said.
But Machar’s faction accused Kiir’s soldiers of firing on an opposition convoy as it approached the checkpoint in the Gudele area of Juba. Two soldiers from his side were wounded, said William Gatjieth, a spokesman for Machar’s group.
