A heavily-armed Ugandan military convoy crossed into South Sudan on Thursday to evacuate citizens trapped in the capital Juba as fears persist that days of fierce fighting might reignite despite a cease-fire. The United Nations has warned of tension and the possibility of fresh fighting in Juba, where a cease-fire has held since late Monday.
President Salva Kiir on Thursday called on arch-rival Riek Machar to meet for talks to salvage peace. "I don't want any more bloodshed in South Sudan," Kiir said. Kiir spoke in public for the first time at the bullet-scarred presidential palace where four days of fighting erupted on Friday, standing alongside cease-fire monitoring chief Festus Mogae, a former Botswanan president, and African Union special envoy Alpha Oumar Konare, a former president of Mali.
Earlier Thursday a convoy of around 50 Ugandan trucks escorted by machine gun-mounted armoured vehicles crossed the border at Nimule to open up a secure corridor for fleeing civilians on the 200 kilometre (120 mile) Juba-Nimule road. Uganda's army chief Brigadier Leopold Kyanda said the mission involving 2,000 soldiers would likely last "two to three days" but an intelligence officer said some Ugandan troops may remain in Juba. "Why not? We have the capacity to support the government of South Sudan and we were there before," said the plain-clothed officer accompanying the convoy.
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