Heavy gunfire broke out Thursday in Juba, South Sudan, near the home of former spy chief Gen. Akol Koor, who has been under house arrest since October. Witnesses said soldiers clashed with Koor’s security guards, leaving two injured. Koor, dismissed from his intelligence role and appointed as a state governor before being removed, has not received an explanation for his arrest. South Sudan remains fragile despite a 2018 peace deal, with elections postponed until 2026.

Heavy gunfire broke out late Thursday in South Sudan's capital, Juba, at the residence of the country’s former spy chief, who has been under house arrest for the past two months, according to local residents.

Witnesses reported that soldiers engaged in an exchange of fire with Gen. Akol Koor’s security guards in Juba’s upscale Thongpiny neighborhood for about an hour. Army spokesperson Lul Ruai Koang confirmed that two individuals were injured in the incident.

Koang explained that the gunfire resulted from a misunderstanding between the army and the security forces stationed at Koor's home, adding that more details would be released the following Friday.

Gen. Akol Koor, who served as the head of the South Sudanese intelligence service since 2011, has been under house arrest since early October after being dismissed from his post. Koor was also appointed as a state governor but was removed from that position before he could assume office. Despite his long tenure in intelligence, the government has not commented on the reasons for his dismissal or the house arrest.

Ter Manyang Gatwech, a witness to the gunfire, stated that he was in the Thongpiny area when the shots rang out. He described how locals hurriedly shut their shops and sought shelter. The neighborhood is located near both the military headquarters and the country’s primary airport.

South Sudan remains in a fragile state despite the signing of a peace agreement in 2018 that ended a five-year civil war, which claimed over 400,000 lives. President Salva Kiir and his former rival, now deputy, Riek Machar, have been tasked with overseeing the implementation of the peace deal. However, critics argue that the process has been slower than anticipated.

Elections that were originally scheduled for December have been postponed by two years to allow for the full implementation of critical elements of the peace agreement and to provide sufficient time for voter registration by the electoral body.