The African Union said that it was extremely concerned over the recent fighting between the SPLA and the SPLA-IO in parts of Juba including at the Presidential compound.
Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the African Union, condemned “in the strongest terms this senseless act which led to the loss of so many lives” and urged the transitional government “to undertake very quickly an extensive investigation and to bring to court all those who instigated, planned and conducted this heinous act”.
At the same time, she congratulated Kiir and Machar for speaking to journalists and appealing for calm and demonstrating leadership in the face of an explosive situation.
The timeline of recent violence the chairperson laid out, however, was startling.
“This incident follows a series of violent episodes, most notably the attacks in June 2016 in Wau and Raja towns, which led to many deaths and the displacement of over 40,000 people, the shooting dead of a senior military officer in Juba on 2 July 2016, the escalating new tensions in the Bahr-al-Ghazal and Equatoria regions, and the shooting that took place on the 7th of July 2016 between the forces of the SPLA and the SPLA-IO”
On the five year anniversary of independence, she called upon leaders to show “irreversible signals that peace has come back”