To dages kampe mellem rivaliserende hærafdelinger efter et kupforsøg mod præsident Salva Kir menes at have kostet 400-500 personer livet – samtidig er ti fhv. ministre anholdt i Afrikas nyeste nation, som modtager stor bistand fra bl.a. Danmark.
Up to 20.000 people are said to have taken refuge in the UN mission in Juba, the capital, BBC online reports Tuesday.
President Kiir said a group of soldiers loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar had tried to take power by force on Sunday night, but were defeated.
The violence continued into Monday and fresh gunfire erupted on Tuesday near the presidential palace and many other areas of Juba.
Mr Machar – who leads a dissident faction within the ruling SPLM – was thought to have escaped with some troops. He is a member of South Sudan’s second-largest ethnic group, the Nuer.
After the 2005 peace deal with Sudan he was appointed vice-president of the interim government, retaining the post after independence in 2011 until his dismissal in July 2013.
On Tuesday, the government said former Finance Minister Kosti Manibe, former Justice Minister John Luk Jok and former Interior Minister Gier Chuang Aluong were among the 10 people arrested.
Many were members of the cabinet that was sacked in its entirety in July.
South Sudan has struggled to achieve a stable government since becoming independent from Sudan more than two years ago.
But the oil-rich country remains ethnically and politically divided, with many armed groups active.
