JUBA
The South Sudan Liberation Army (SPLA) said it has repulsed an attack by rebel forces loyal to sacked vice president Riek Machar to take over the airport of Malakal, capital of South Sudan's Upper Nile State.
"We have not yet established any more communication but what I know is that the rebels this morning tried to move to the airport but were pushed back by our army and now the fighting is heavy," army spokesperson Col. Philip Aguer told Anadolu Agency in Juba on Wednesday.
"We are still in control of the airport and the southern part while the rebel forces have taken over the central parts and the market areas," he added.
The rebels attacked the town on Tuesday morning forcing many of the inhabitants to flee into the bush and other areas nearby.
Upper Nile Information Minister Philip Jaben, who also fled the town, recently told AA that there were about 50, 000 people in Malakal, including those in the UN compound and other refugee centers.
In a statement late on Tuesday, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said 10 people were killed in a fight among the displaced persons along tribal lines.
"This Tuesday morning there has been a heavy fighting in and around Malakal between the SPLA in opposition and government troops," it noted.
"Simultaneously inter communal clashes flared up within the protection of the civilian site within the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) which also came under cross fire," it added.
The UNMISS said the fights were contained by its forces in the compound.
South Sudan has been shaken by violence since last December, when President Salva Kiir accused Machar of standing behind a failed coup attempt against his regime.
The violence has already claimed more than 10,000 lives. The UN estimates that some 3.7 million South Sudanese are now "severely food insecure," while more than 867,000 have been displaced by the fighting.
Many people have been killed, both in Malakal and on its outskirts, while numerous others have been displaced.
The strategic, oil-rich city has changed hands more than once since the conflict began last December.
Many of the city's buildings have been destroyed and government facilities vandalized.
Its main marketplace – along with numerous shops, offices and banks – has also been ransacked.
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