U.N. says armed groups near key town in S. Sudan

JUBA (AFP) ― The United Nations Sunday reported armed groups had been spotted close to a key town in South Sudan, after the government said thousands advancing on the state capital had been convinced to return home.

The U.N. has expressed concern over claims some 25,000 armed youths from the Nuer tribe allied to former Vice President Riek Machar were readying to attack Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, amid international efforts to broker a cease-fire.

The world’s youngest nation plunged into chaos two weeks ago when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy of mounting a coup, sparking deadly violence believed to have left thousands dead.

Fuelled by ethnic rivalries between Kiir’s Dinka group and Machar’s Nuer, bloodshed has swept across the nation, with fierce battles reported in strategic oil-producing areas.

As fears soared over an impending attack on Bor by Machar’s so-called “White Army,” Juba said thousands of armed youths marching on the town had turned back.

Government spokesman Michael Makuei said “most of them have returned home.”

“According to our sources local Lou and Dau Nuer chiefs have convinced the youths,” he said. “So it looks like things are calming down, unless” there is another mobilization.

This is a positive development “because we do not want to lose more lives,” he added.

The U.N. Mission in South Sudan has been tracking reports of the armed groups’ movements but cannot confirm the size or location of Machar’s followers, said a U.N. statement.

“UNMISS today conducted aerial reconnaissance and reports that they have identified some armed groups approximately 50 kilometers northeast of Bor,” said the statement.

However, it did not say who the groups were.

UNMISS chief Hilde Johnson, who is to brief the U.N. Security Council on Monday about the South Sudan crisis, has been seeking to persuade political and community leaders to head off the advance on Bor, the statement added.

According to Jonglei’s acting governor Ogato Chan, the Nuer fighters were around 110 kilometers from Bor.

“The situation in the town -- Bor -- is calm,” he said. “The information is that they want to come and attack Bor but I am sure they will not attempt to do it because the SPLA forces will repulse them.”

Rebel spokesman Moses Ruai Lat has said Machar was “not mobilizing his tribe,” the second biggest ethnic group in South Sudan. He described the men instead as regular soldiers who had rejected the government and were not specifically drafted by Machar.