Dozen killed in violent clashes

 South Sudanese soldiers and rebels have clashed in a state bordering Sudan, killing at least 15 people as violence raged on in the world’s youngest nation after months of failed talks and peace accords. The army said on Thursday that it moved in after spotting rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar, trying to […]

 South Sudanese soldiers and rebels have clashed in a state bordering Sudan, killing at least 15 people as violence raged on in the world’s youngest nation after months of failed talks and peace accords.

The army said on Thursday that it moved in after spotting rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar, trying to steal cattle in the small village of Adaab el Bahr, in Unity State, on Wednesday evening.

The rebels then caught them in an ambush, which carried on for just short of an hour, said the military’s deputy spokesman Colonel Santo Dominic Chol.

Major Dickson Gatluak Jock, a spokesman for the Machar-allied SPLA-In-Opposition, said that his forces killed 20 soldiers in Adaab el Bahr – higher than the government estimate of 15 – and another 23 in a fight in Tore, in Central Equatoria state, on the same day.

Another rebel spokesman, Colonel William Gatjiath Deng, said that they had also seized control of three towns after fighting in the two states on Tuesday and Wednesday. The claim was denied by the army.