Several hundred soldiers and civilians have died, including two Chinese peacekeepers, with sporadic skirmishing extending towards the hills beyond Jebel and Tomping, where the United Nations compound is located — all apparently triggered by a disagreement at a checkpoint between rival soldiers, which became a shootout in which five were killed.
Saturday 9 July was supposed to be an occasion for celebrating South Sudan’s fifth year of independence from its northern neighbour — the Republic of Sudan, with its capital at Khartoum — but has instead prompted questions as to whether the international community acted too hastily in backing secession for this loose coalition of warring militia leaders.
The
