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Summary At least 80 people were killed when South Sudanese forces repelled an attack by rebel militia.
Around 80 people, including 60 rebels, were killed on Saturday when government forces in the oil-rich South Sudanese Unity state repelled an attack by rebel militia, officials said.There was a militia attack at 5 or 6 oclock in the morning (0200-0300 GMT) in Mayom county, said Unity Information Minister Gideon Gatpan Thoar.Thoar said rebels, most of them fighting under the banner of the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), attacked Mayom town and that the majority of the civilian casualties were residents gunned down while running for shelter.We are counting the bodies now but over 60 militias were killed and many more wounded, said Thoar, adding that 15 civilians were killed in the attack.Among the dead was the notorious rebel fighter Colonel Ruadheal Gatwech, he said, adding that SPLA government forces also captured one soldier in Mayom town and three more in the east of the county.The situation is under control ... The rebels are still being chased away, Thoar told AFP seven hours after the attack.Officials could not give a precise figure on how many rebels attacked Mayom, but said that they were in the hundreds and had come from South Kordofan, a state on Sudans new border where conflict between government forces and rebels has flared since June.
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