Defense Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk and the Deputy Chief of General Staff for the SPLM in Opposition, James Koang, say it is now calm in Juba.

Eye Radio journalists in three different suburbs where heavy gunfire was reported last evening also say there is calm in the respective areas in which they are.

The gunfire started at the presidential palace J1 at around 1700 hrs while President Salva Kiir and his two deputies were in a meeting to discuss a previous clash between SPLA and SPLA-IO forces on Thursday, in which five SPLA soldiers were killed.

It quickly spread to Tomping next to the government ministries and to Jebel Kujur suburb, where the headquarters of the SPLM-IO headquarters is based.

President Salva Kiir, First Vice President Dr Riek Machar and Vice President James Wani Igga returned to their homes after the meeting, according to reports from sources close to the three leaders.

The Minister of Defense, Kuol Manyang Juuk, says people can now go about with their normal duties in Juba.
He said some people were killed but he couldn’t provide details.

“What is important is that the fighting died down yesterday and we do not know the number of casualties because it was too early to know, but people slept last night and there was no more fighting and even now there is nothing,” he told Eye Radio this morning.

“I’m appealing to the public to be calm and go back to work. There is nothing to prevent them from going to work as usual because they need to work to get their own means for survival,” he said.

“Everything is okay. Now there is calm now all over. The police is in control of the security situation but there is nothing unusual reported; so the public [should] be calm; let them go back to work, open their shops and go to the market,” he added.

The deputy chief of General of the SPLM in Opposition, James Koang, told Eye Radio that the IO is working in coordination with the SPLA general headquarters to maintain calm in the town.

“The general situation in Juba is calm but still tense and we are working together with the SPLA general headquarters; we are talking to the members of the JMCC (Joint Military and Ceasefire Commission) to make the situation normal. What I can tell the general public is that let them remain calm,” James Koang told Eye Radio.

“What had happened I think is not something intended by the two leaders; it is just outside the compound and then let them remain calm and the situation will be brought back to normal,” he added.

It is not clear what led to the fighting.

In Jebel Kujur, there was fighting into the night.

“It is calm on this side of the town this morning as I speak,” says Eye Radio’s Ayuen Panchol.

“Some people could be seen moving around the suburb,” he said.

“I can see some people going into shops,” says Eye Radio’s Obaj Okuj Shaqawa, reporting from Amarat suburb, which is a home to many senior government officials.

“The area looks normal as some people are moving,” he said.