23 dead in clashes between South Sudan government, opposition forces

Four weeks of clashes between South Sudan government and opposition forces in the north of the impoverished country have left 23 people dead while thousands have fled the conflict zone, authorities and police said Sunday.

Hundreds of people have died in clashes across South Sudan in recent weeks between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of detained former vice president Riek Machar and other ethnic unrest, as the world's youngest country heads towards national elections scheduled for December 22.

Ruweng administrative area's information minister Tony Chol Ayat told AFP that fighters from Riek Machar's SPLA-IO force had entered Ruweng from neighbouring Unity state. He said fighting between October 4 and Thursday this week had left 23 dead and 17 wounded.

The toll was confirmed by two police sources. Chol Ayat said that more than 100,000 people had fled the fighting while one of the police sources confirmed "thousands" had left the area. A resident in Ruweng told AFP that SPLA-IO fighters had started fighting and that "the government built up forces on the front lines and the rebel armies were repelled".

Another Ruweng resident said there were fears of heightened conflict. Both spoke on condition of anonymity. A South Sudan army spokesman would not comment on events, while Riek Machar's forces did not respond to an AFP query.

Independent since 2011, South Sudan is one of the world's poorest countries with widespread corruption. Saalva Kiir and Riek Machar's forces fought a civil war from 2013 to 2018 that left more than 400,000 dead.

The country's first presidential and legislative election has already been postponed several times and a UN human rights commission, which has accused the country's elite of siphoning off billions of dollars of oil revenues, has said an election in current tensions could unleash widespread new conflict.