Fighting escalates

Juba: Fighting escalated in South Sudan, with a top commander in the country’s key oil-producing region defecting to the rebels and foreign governments scrambling to evacuate their nationals.
A US military aircraft was shot at as it was engaged in evacuation operations in Bor, the rebel-held capital of Jonglei state, a diplomatic source and Ugandan military officials said, with some US military personnel injured in the incident.
The upsurge in hostilities in the world’s youngest nation came despite an offer from President Salva Kiir to open talks with his former deputy Riek Machar, who is accused of having started the fighting by attempting a coup.
Machar in turn accuses Kiir of conducting a violent purge, and has quickly built up a rebel army to take on the central government on several fronts.
At least 500 people have been killed in Juba alone in six days of fighting, while tens of thousands have been displaced — many of them seeking shelter in UN bases across the country amid warnings that the impoverished nation is on the brink of all-out civil war.
Neighbouring Kenya today ordered troops into the country to evacuate Kenyans stranded there, following Uganda, which has already sent in a special forces unit to help evacuate its nationals.