[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] South Sudan's capital was rocked Sunday by heavy arms fire between forces loyal to the president and those of the vice president, causing widespread casualties and raising fears the country is returning to civil war.The fighting began in the morning and continued until about 8pm local time, when a large thunderstorm seemed to put a damper on the violence, said UN mission spokeswoman Shantal Persaud. She confirmed that a UN armored personnel carrier was hit by a shell at a camp to protect civilians. UN peacekeepers in the vehicle were maimed, said witnesses.
"The condition is really very bad. We have a lot of casualties this side, I think around 50 to 60 besides those of yesterday," said Budbud Chol who oversees security at a clinic in the base. "We have civilian casualties. We have rocket-propelled grenades that have landed in the camp which has maimed eight people." Among the maimed are five children and two women while the rest were men, he said.
At least one person has died in the camp, he said, but he did not know about casualties outside where the fighting was heavy.
The opposition side blamed government forces for starting the fighting Sunday morning with an attack on a rebel base in the Jebel area of the capital. Three helicopter gunships bombed rebel camps, said William Gatjiath Deng, a front man for the rebel forces.
South Sudan’s army confirmed the Sunday festivities but it is not clear how the fighting started, said army front man Lul Ruai Koang, who is in the SPLA general headquarters at Bilpham.
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Sunday to consider the fighting in South Sudan. UN Secretary General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon condemned the fighting."I am shocked and appalled by the heavy fighting that is currently taking place in Juba. I strongly urge President Kiir and First Vice-President Riek Machar to do everything within their power to de-escalate the hostilities immediately and to order their respective forces to disengage and withdraw to their bases," said Ban in a statement. "This senseless violence is unacceptable and has the potential of reversing the progress made so far in the grinding of the peace processor."
Ban confirmed that UN compounds and sites to protect civilians in Juba have been caught in the cross-fire.
About 10,000 Juba residents fled neighborhoods where there was fighting, said Jeremiah Young, policy adviser for World Vision in South Sudan.
"We have seen quite a few individuals packing up and leaving, trying to find shelter, what look like a lot of civilians taking off down the street, carrying their suitcases, their children," he said.
Other residents said they could not leave because of the fighting. "I’ve gotten calls that I should leave but there was so much gunfire nearby I decided to stay in," said one resident, who insisted on anonymity for her safety.