Fighting broke out in Kaya on Tuesday night leaving an unconfirmed number of soldiers dead as well as several civilians including children, according to survivors who fled the town.
Many people today crossed from the border town of Kaya to Oraba on the Uganda side. Children and women sat on the road waiting whilst others got into cars with their belongings heading toward safety in Uganda.
Fleeing residents say that they saw up to nine bodies of armed men laying dead on the ground in Alikate area in Kaya. They also said they saw near a bridge the bodies of several children, estimated to be four in number.
At least one SPLA officer holding a high rank was killed by SPLA-IO in the fighting in Kaya last night, residents said, though this was not yet independently confirmed.
Ugandan police deployed toward the border in pickup trucks blocking people from crossing toward Kaya, while allowing civilians leaving Kaya to escape.
Kaya is located near the borders of Congo and Uganda. Some of the civilians who fled have crossed into Congo first and from there into Uganda.