Troops of former SPLA general Peter Gadet have taken control of significant parts of the capital of Jonglei State, residents confirmed to Radio Tamazuj.
Gadet, a Nuer from Unity State, is said to be loyal to the ex-vice president Riek Machar who is accused by the president of orchestrating a coup. The strength of his current force is estimated at “more than 2000,” a state official said today.
A senior official in one of the state ministries attributed the clashes to defections within SPLA Division 8, saying fighting broke out about 2:30 AM in Pan-pandiar and Malual-chaat military camps and moved into Bor town by about 5 AM.
“People are still fighting now. Bor center is still under control of Peter Gadet, and there are some Dinka fighters came and attacked the place two times and they were defeated,” he said.
Another source inside the UN base in Bor also confirmed to Radio Tamazuj this evening that Gadet controlled the town. He further disclosed that “top government officials” were sheltering inside the base, but denied that the governor was among them.
Residents of Bor described to Radio Tamazuj the situation in the afternoon as having calmed down since this morning, but further clashes appeared likely as control of the area was still contested.
At least 19 killed
Casualties of the fighting are not yet known but a preliminary figure from the South Sudan Red Cross State Director David Gai was 19 dead. The official noted that the count did not include areas captured by the Peter Gadet forces.
A teacher who initially fled town said he saw three people killed in their homes, all civilians, including one shot in the chest, a second in the head and another cut at the throat.
The teacher describing the situation in the town at the end of the afternoon said, “After the shooting subsided I returned to town to look for a phone charger and things to buy. But the shops were still closed. Some people are coming back and some are still going, but most people have remained in their place of hiding.”
He said that five people were confirmed dead and three children were drowned when they were trying to escape. “This morning when the attack was still continuing a mother was trying to take her children to the other side of the river. But she did not make it. She survived, but her children not.”
The teacher further talked to relative of a man who was killed behind John Garang School while he was checking his cattle after midday. “Another man has been killed at around 1pm in block 4. The guy went to check his house and they shot him dead. He was a prison guard.”
He said that the soldiers of Gadet are scattered in the town and are walking one by one, or in small groups.
‘Thousands’ of people have sought protection at the peackeepers’ base in Bor, the UN has acknowledged. Others have hidden in their homes. No patrols from the UN were seen in the town.
Civil war massacre
For many local residents the attack brings memories of the massacre of 1991, when troops of Riek Machar attacked Bor killing thousands of Dinkas. According to sources in the area the comparison is very alive and widespread, especially since the troops of Peter Gadet are also mainly from the Nuer tribe of the sacked vice president.
The 1991 attack is widely recognized in South Sudan as one of the worst episodes of the last civil war. During reconciliation conferences earlier this year Riek Machar had publically apologized for his role in the events.
Meanwhile, the conflict has threatened to escalate in other parts of the state as well, including Pibor and Akobo Counties, where clashes broke out within military units in the past two days.
In an earlier report it was revealed that weapons and munitions had disappeared from a weapons depot on the Bor outskirts and were in the hands of the population.
File photo (Adriane Ohanesian)