Independence day horror: 146 confirmed killed in Friday Juba clashes

146 people are confirmed killed in the clashes of Friday afternoon in South Sudan's capital Juba.

A medical source confirmed that 109 dead bodies have been brought to Juba Teaching Hospital since the fighting.

Separately, an SPLA-IO military source confirmed 37 of their side were killed, but none of them were taken to Juba Teaching Hospital. The source said these 37 were all killed in the clashes of the presidential palace known as J1.

Juba has been calm Saturday 9 July, which is South Sudan's anniversary of independence.

Last night gunfire erupted outside J1 as president Salva Kiir, first vice president Riek Machar, and vice president Wani Igga were meeting inside.

The shooting then spread to nearly all neighborhoods of the city, including outside the UN base near Jebel where some 28,000 displaced people were sheltering

It remains unclear exactly who was fighting each other in each place or the cause of the fighting.

Update 15:43 9/7/2016: Witnesses report that the city is still tense with heavy military presence in Juba including checkpoints manned by what are described as aggressive soldiers from SPLA, police, and National Security personnel.

UN patrols have been stopped from leaving their two bases in Tongpiny and Jebel. The head of the UN Mission in South Sudan Ellen Løj is said to be in the US embassy, according to media reports.

Some international organizations have begun to evacuate their staff, including the International Monetary Fund and the Overseas Development Institute. Foreign embassies are discussing whether to evacuate staff.

Update 16:16 9/7/2016: The UNMISS said that several rounds hit buildings in the UN House compound near Jebel on Friday evening, and that hundreds of civilians have fled inside. More civilians are also reportedly taking shelter in the Tomping site.

"UN peacekeepers have increased their presence on the perimeters of PoC sites 1 and 3 [at UN House], and enhanced their patrolling both inside and in the vicinity of the sites. UNMISS is providing medical assistance to injured civilians from the PoC 1 site," UNMISS said.

According to UNMISS, the mission chief Løj calls on the parties “to cease hostilities, and avoid the mistakes of the past in order for South Sudan to move forward in peace."

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif

ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Search This Blog