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Regional bloc calls emergency meeting over renewed fighting in South Sudan

Xinhua, July 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

Foreign ministers from member states of East African bloc IGAD are due to meet in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Monday over renewed fighting in South Sudan's capital Juba.

An official from Kenya's foreign ministry told Xinhua on Sunday the ministers would discuss ways of ending the fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar.

The rival factions clashed in Juba on Friday, killing at least 271 people, among them 32 civilians and 234 soldiers from both sides. Heavy fighting resumed on Sunday but the scale of casualties is not yet known.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) groups Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.

In another development, Paul Malong Awan, Chief of General Staff of Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) -- the government troops, on Sunday warned all armed groups in Juba against attacking civilians.

Malong said the army would not tolerate such activities and would act accordingly to protect civilians.

"The SPLA is hereby giving this stern warning that any group or individual found in a position to carry such barbaric actions or acts will be dealt with in the harshest term possible," Malong said.

The international community has condemned the resurgence of violence amid reports that situation in Juba has calmed down. Endit