'Mass ethnic killings' in South Sudan

UN aid co-ordinator: "There were a lot of gunshots and a lot of dead bodies"

South Sudan strife

New details are emerging of alleged ethnic killings committed during more than a week of violence in South Sudan.

A reporter in the capital Juba quoted witnesses as saying more than 200 people, mostly from the Nuer ethnic group, were shot by security forces.
Another man in Juba reported that gunmen from the Dinka tribe were shooting people in Nuer districts who did not speak the Dinka language.
South Sudan's government has denied it is behind any ethnic violence.
The reports emerged as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the Security Council to add 5,500 UN troops to the 7,000-strong force in South Sudan.
Rebels supporting sacked former vice-president Riek Machar have seized major towns over the past week.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting.

Mr Chang's purge from power was unusually high-profile

Perhaps it was even a desperate sign that the execution of Chang Song-thaek was not, after all, the nephew's doing - a signal that this 30-year-old, nuclear-armed orphan was not actually in charge of the country at all.
As usual, glimpses inside Pyongyang's political machine only seem to highlight how little we know.
The reams of news coverage churned out by North Korea give an unusual impression of instability at the heart of the North Korean regime.
They describe in lurid detail the charges being brought against Chang Song-thaek - everything from plotting a coup to using pornography to "half-hearted clapping" on Kim Jong-un's rise to power.
Photographs of Mr Chang, stooped and under arrest, were broadcast on state media. And the news was broadcast on the city subway.
But how valid are the claims that Mr Chang was plotting to overthrow his nephew?
If Mr Chang was, indeed, executed - something we have no evidence for beyond the word of the North Korean state - we can be fairly sure it was for something serious. Senior officials in Pyongyang are rarely executed, and certainly not in this very public way.

North Koreans read about Chang Song-thaek's execution at subway stations

Mr Chang was not only Kim Jong-un's mentor and guardian, he was a member of the ruling family - and the fact that two of his aides were also executed, according to South Korea's spy agency, adds to the suggestion that something serious was taking place.
But was it a coup? The level of public indoctrination following Mr Chang's arrest certainly could suggest some kind of political upheaval or threat.
Several North Koreans have reported covertly to contacts in the South that party meetings, lectures and self-examination sessions have been stepped up, and there's apparently great emphasis on loyalty.

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South Sudan evacuation aircraft fired on, US troops hurt...

There's been a big international operation to evacuate people from South Sudan

Continue reading the main story

South Sudan strife

• Juba voices
• Tangled web
• Clashes explained
• In 60 secondsWatch

Four US service personnel have been wounded after an aircraft they were on was shot at on an evacuation mission in South Sudan, the US military says.

The aircraft was attacked as it approached Bor, which is occupied by forces loyal to the rebel former Vice-President Riek Machar, it added.

South Sudan has been in turmoil since President Salva Kiir accused Mr Machar a week ago of attempting a coup.

At least 500 people have been killed in clashes.

The US military statement said the aircraft, which it did not identify, was involved in the evacuation of US citizens from Bor.

"After receiving fire from the ground while approaching the site, the aircraft diverted to an airfield outside the country and aborted the mission," the statement said.

The aircraft returned to Uganda's Entebbe airport near the capital Kampala, from where the wounded were taken on to Nairobi, Kenya, Ugandan officials said.

A number of other countries are trying to evacuate their citizens from South Sudan.

Uganda has sent troops to take part in the operation. They will also try to secure the capital Juba, just 75km (50 miles) from the border, reports say.

China National Petroleum - one of the main operators - said it was evacuating workers back to Juba.

Commander 'defects'

The South Sudanese army is trying to retake Bor, the capital of eastern Jonglei state, one of the most volatile regions in South Sudan.

Troops backed by helicopter gunships were advancing on the town, army spokesman Philip Aguer told the French AFP news agency.

In Unity state, a major oil-producing region, a senior commander, General James Koang, is reported to have defected to Mr Machar's forces.

Mr Machar said General Koang was now in control of the state, but the military, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), says he defected alone and did not take any forces with him.

Government troops are patrolling the capital, Juba

A resident in Unity state told the BBC that Gen Koang announced on local radio he had joined Mr Machar's rebellion.

On Friday African mediators held talks with Mr Kiir in an attempt to avert civil war.

The talks are set to continue and US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was sending a special envoy, Ambassador Donald Booth, to help foster dialogue.

President Kiir, a member of the majority Dinka ethnic group, sacked Mr Machar, who is from the Nuer community, in July.

He said that last Sunday night uniformed personnel opened fire at a meeting of the governing party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

Violence then broke out in Juba and has since spread across the country, pitting gangs of Nuer and Dinka against each other.

The whereabouts of Mr Machar, who has denied trying to stage a coup, remain unknown.

Worst violence

Thousands of civilians have flocked to UN compounds seeking shelter from the unrest.

The UN on Friday condemned an attack on its compound in Akobo, Jonglei state, a day earlier in which two Indian peacekeepers and at least 11 civilians were killed.

Jonglei state has seen some of the worst violence since South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011, with hundreds killed in periodic clashes between rival heavily-armed ethnic militias sparked by cattle-rustling.

Sudan's arid north is mainly home to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in South Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own languages and traditional beliefs, alongside Christianity and Islam.

Following decades of conflict, weapons are widely available across much of South Sudan.

South Sudan's government insists the clashes are over power and politics, not between ethnic groups.

President Kiir said the majority of those arrested after Sunday's alleged coup attempt were Dinka, not Nuer.

The oil-rich country has struggled to achieve a stable government since becoming independent.

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