Two people are dead and many others wounded following a fight inside the country’s military headquarters, SPLA Bilpam, between people that represent South Sudan’s two largest tribes.
The clashes occurred in an area inhabited by SPLA soldiers and involved members of the Nuer and Dinka communities.
The two sides first engaged with sticks and batons, which subsequently escalated to firearms. Sources claim that the people involved in the fighting were SPLA soldiers.
Tribal tension has been rising between the Dinka and Nuer for months since President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, sacked his entire cabinet including the former Vice President Riek Machar, who is Nuer. The former VP publicly called on the army to remain neutral and not involve itself in tribal politics.
The Chief of Staff for the SPLA Major General James Hoth Mai, a Nuer, has also reportedly been at odds with President Salva Kiir after the President assembled a large group of Dinka soldiers from the President's home state of Warrap, and deployed them to a key bridge that connects the nation’s capital with Western Equatoria State where much of the SPLA's food is grown for feeding the rank and file soldiers.
Chief of Staff Hoth Mai also publicly hinted that the government should not interfere in military affairs.