A commander with the rank of of brigadier in the SPLA was killed on Sunday in Juba's Tongping neighborhood, sparking fighting within government forces, according to a military source.

The fighting involved government forces and government bodyguards at the house of a top army official of the Nuer ethnicity, General Johnson Tau.

An army officer with the rank of first lieutenant who declined to be named said the killing of the officer was the reason for clashes in the Tongping neighborhood since Sunday morning.

For his part, the official spokesman of the government army Brigadier Lul Ruai declined to make any specific statements on the issue saying only, “The clashes that took place in Tongping were caused by soldiers who were in the building near the cemetery who opened fire on government forces.”