JUBA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- An air raid allegedly carried out by government warplanes killed at least 13 civilians and injured dozens in Waat in northeastern South Sudan, a rebel spokesman said on Tuesday.
Lam Paul Gabriel, Sudan People's Liberation Army-in opposition (SPLA-IO) deputy spokesman, said two government warplanes on Monday launched air bombardment around Waat, Bieh State, killing at least 13 civilians.
"So far people have counted about 13 civilians killed but there were several who are injured. We don't know how many might have died in hospital this morning," Gabriel said.
Fresh clashes erupted there last week between government forces and rebels loyal to the country's former deputy president Riek Machar, leaving over 90 dead and dozens injured, according to the South Sudan army (SPLA).
SPLA deputy spokesman Santo Domic Chol acknowledged that fighting took place in Waat in the early hours of Monday but denied the rebel's accusation that it used warplanes during the fighting.
Chol said the rebels attacked their positions in Waat at around 6 a.m. and the battle lasted for 23 minutes.
"The rebels don't maintain ground in Waat, it is the SPLA that is in Waat, but they are only trying to capture it," Chol told Xinhua in a phone interview from the South Sudanese capital of Juba.
The East African nation has been embroiled in more than three years of conflict that has have taken a devastating toll on the people of South Sudan.
A peace pact signed in Addis Ababa in 2015 under intense international pressure was shattered again following renewed violence between rival government and opposition troops in the capital Juba in July 2016.
The conflict has since spread to other regions that had enjoyed relative peace, causing displacement of least 4 million people, ethnic polarization and tribal violence that has killed tens of thousands.
