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Journalism of Courage
Heavy gunfire erupted near a military headquarters in South Sudan’s capital Juba on Thursday evening, Reuters reporters said.
It was not immediately clear who was shooting. The gunfire began around 7 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) and continued more than an hour later, although it periodically died down.
A military spokesperson said he was working to establish what was going on.
Rival factions loyal to President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar fought a civil war from 2013 to 2018 that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.
The two have governed together since then as part of a transitional government. There has been relative peace since 2018, but opposing forces have clashed periodically over disagreements about how to share power.
Diplomats and analysts say there has been tension in Juba since Kiir dismissed the long-serving intelligence chief, Akol Koor Kuc, in early October, and replaced him with a close ally.
The move came weeks after the transitional government announced that national elections expected in December would be postponed for a second time.
