JUBA, South Sudan — The United States ordered its citizens to leave South Sudan immediately Tuesday because of fighting in the capital after what its president called a coup attempt by soldiers loyal to his former deputy.
Facing an escalating threat of violence, about 13,000 people sought refuge at U.N. facilities in Juba, where sporadic but heavy gunfire has been heard since Sunday as factions of the armed forces repeatedly clashed across the city.
The U.S. Embassy said in an advisory that Americans who choose to stay “should review their personal security situation and seriously reconsider their plans.” The embassy suspended its normal operations.
President Salva Kiir told the nation Monday that a group of soldiers loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar, whom he fired in July amid a power struggle, tried to take power by force but were defeated. Kiir then ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the capital.
The alleged coup attempt took place Sunday when some soldiers raided the main army barracks’ weapons store in Juba but were repelled by loyalists, sparking gunfights across the city, Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told The Associated Press.
At least 26 people, mostly soldiers, have died, according to Makur Maker, a senior Ministry of Health official. Others put the casualties in the hundreds.
There are “disturbing reports of ethnically targeted killings,” with most of the fighting pitting soldiers from Kiir’s majority Dinka tribe against those from Machar’s Nuer tribe, said Casie Copeland of the International Crisis Group.
