Two civilians, one soldier killed in South Sudan clashes
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This photo, taken on July 25, 2016, shows a United Nations (UN) armored personnel vehicle standing in a refugee camp in Juba, South Sudan. (By AP)
Three people have died in clashes between government forces and militants backing the opposition in South Sudan.
According to Press TV, Steven Lodu Onseimo, the Information Minister for Yei region, where the Saturday clashes took place, said the deceased included two civilians and a soldier.
Witnesses had reported heavy gunfire around Yei, which lies on a road linking the capital, Juba, with neighboring Uganda.
The road passing Yei is a main thoroughfare for refugees fleeing the country to Uganda.
The government and opposition each blamed the other side for instigating the violence.
Onseimo, the Information Minister of Yei, said the opposition forces “ambushed” a government convoy.
However, opposition spokesman James Gatdet claimed, “Our forces have managed to close the Juba-Yei road. Our forces destroyed the government’s convoy that attacked our forces in the area.”
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council, on Friday, authorized the deployment of a 4,000-strong protection force to support the existing 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission to South Sudan following an escalation of violence there in July.
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