Gunfire has rung out in South Sudan's capital hours after five soldiers died in clashes between rival factions, raising fears for a fragile peace process in the world's newest nation.
President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader Riek Machar, now first vice president, called for calm at the State House, where they had been in talks when the fighting flared.
A Reuters witness there heard shooting nearby on Friday.
The clash between groups loyal to both men on Thursday night and the shooting on Friday were the first eruption of fighting in Juba since Mr Machar returned to the capital in April, under a deal to end two years' of civil war.
Experts have warned that the five-year-old nation risks sliding back into conflict unless the two sides move more swiftly to implement the peace pact, including ensuring the swift re-integration or demobilisation of rival combatants.
"All we want to tell the public now is that they should remain calm," Mr Machar said at a joint news conference with Mr Kiir.
"This incident also will be controlled, and then measures will be taken so that peace it restored."
Another Reuters witness said fighting seemed to erupt in the area around State House, while smoke rose above the city.
Mr Kiir's SPLA and Mr Machar's opposition SPLA-IO, which fought for more than two years during a conflict that erupted in December 2013, have forces in that area, the witness said.
Late on Thursday, at least five soldiers were killed in a clash that started when a group of soldiers backing Mr Kiir had stopped vehicles carrying Mr Machar loyalists in Gudele, a district of Juba where Mr Machar has his political base.
Reuters
