Fears spread in the capital of Upper Nile state Malakal over the last few days of yet another imminent attack on the city by forces loyal to Riek Machar, but no attack today materialized within the city itself.

Wau Aguet Deng, County Commissioner of Malakal, told Radio Tamazuj on Friday “the situation inside the city until now is safe.” However, the commissioner acknowledged he was not in Malakal since Wednesday.

Asked whether there were clashes on the outskirts of Malakal he replied, “The forces of Riek Machar left toward the side Nasser, but inside the city is fine, there are no problems, even the countryside is okay.”

“The security situation in Malakal now is perfect, there is no problem,” he stressed. However, today humanitarian air flights to the city were canceled, and some people in the city said they heard the sound of gunfire, suggesting there may have been clashes near the city.

Radio Tamazuj was unable to verify independently whether the city was under threat. 

Meanwhile, burials of the dead from the latest assault on Malakal have not been completed. “The Red Cross organization is still working to bury the bodies,” said the commissioner. 

“The dogs are eating the bodies,” he added.

According to the local official, by Sunday or Monday the efforts to dispose of the remains may be finished, at which point citizens could return to the city.  

Elsewhere in the state, witnesses in Kodok in Fashoda County reported the flight of hundreds of displaced into the forests owing to fears of attack by rebels, amid deployment of military units in anticipation of attack. 

This follows the fall of Kaka to the north just days ago, which was confirmed to Radio Tamazuj by the army spokesman Philip Aguer.

Related: 

Malakal remains desolate since government recapture (25 March)

Photo: UNMISS Force Commander Major General Delali Sakyi during a trip to Malakal and Melut, 28 March 2014 (UNMISS) 

Update, 29 March 2014: A spokesman of the Red Cross says that neither the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) nor the South Sudan Red Cross are involved in burials in Malakal, denying the report by the Commissioner Wau Aguet.