Leading South Sudan opposition member says he was tortured

Dhieu Mathok, the secretary general of the SPLM-IO party and energy minister in South Sudan’s new unity government, declined to name his attackers, saying only, “They are known.” 

A photo provided to The Associated Press showed Mathok’s knees badly cut up, with chunks of skin missing. “I am a leader of the (party) and they want to assassinate me. That is all,” he said.

Two other SPLM-IO officials separately confirmed the incident. Opposing army factions have clashed in the capital, Juba, over the past week, with forces backing President Salva Kiir pushing many opposition forces out of their bases in the city and bombing the home of former rebel leader Riek Machar.

The fighting has threatened a peace deal reached in August to end a civil war that began in December 2013 between supporters of Kiir and Machar and left tens of thousands dead.

The deal called for a transitional government that included members of both sides. Both Kiir and Machar, now first vice president, called late Monday for a cease-fire, which has appeared to hold. But tensions continue among their supporters.