Heavy gunfire breaks out in Juba, the city of South Sudan

According to Reuters reporters and an alert sent to UN staff, heavy gunfire broke out in Juba, South Sudan’s city, on Thursday evening after security forces moved to arrest the former head of the intelligence service.

Reporters from Reuters said the shooting started around 7 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) and stopped for more than an hour after it started.

The shooting was linked to the arrest of the former head of the National Security Service (NSS), according to a U.N. safety report sent to staff in Juba and seen by Reuters. Staff at the UN were told to stay put.

President Salva Kiir fired Akol Koor Kuc in early October. Kuc had been in charge of the NSS since 2011, when the country got its freedom from Sudan. He chose a close ally to take his place.

Akol Kuur had not been arrested, according to Army spokesman Major General Lul Ruai Koang. He had stayed at home during the killing.

After a meeting with other security officials, Koang told media that he would talk to them later that same day.

Experts said that Akol Koor’s firing showed a power struggle at the top levels of the government. It happened a few weeks after Kiir’s transitional government said that polls that were supposed to happen in December would be pushed back a second time.

There was a civil war in Sudan from 2013 to 2018 between groups loyal to Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar. Hundreds of thousands of people died.

As part of a temporary government, they have been in charge together ever since. While there has been some peace, there is also a lot of fighting between different armed groups in rural areas and between the opposing troops.