JUBA (South Sudan): South Sudan President Salva Kiir – who put on fatigues with an army general’s epaulets inside of his usual gentleman’s suit — said on Monday in a televised address to the nation that the military had foiled a coup orchestrated by “a group of soldiers allied with the former vice president.”

The soldiers had attacked the South Sudanese military headquarters near Juba University on Sunday, sparking sporadic bursts of gunfire that continued on Monday, he said.

‘‘The attackers went and (the) armed forces are pursuing them,” Kiir said.

“I promise you today that justice will prevail.’’

The government is now “in full control of the military situation” in Juba, he said, insisting his government could only be removed though elections.

Details of the attempted coup remained sketchy, but South Sudanese Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said that troops within the main army base in Juba raided the weapons store but were repulsed. Some politicians had since been arrested, he said, but could not confirm if former Vice President Riek Machar — the alleged coup leader — was among those in detention.

Benjamin said the coup was plotted by “disgruntled” soldiers and politicians led by Machar, who fell out with Kiir before being fired earlier this year as the country’s deputy president.

Heavily armed soldiers and police patrolled the streets of Juba, but gunfire could no longer be heard later on Monday.

The streets were largely empty of civilians. EgyptAir reported that it had cancelled its flight to Juba, saying the airport there was closed.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan reported the sound of mortar and heavy machine-gun fire, saying hundreds of civilians had sought refuge inside UN facilities.

‘‘We hope the security situation in Juba will quickly normalise to enable the civilians to return very soon to their residential areas,” the mission said in a statement.

There were no “key political or military figures” among those given shelter inside UN facilities, it said.

Tension had been mounting in South Sudan since Kiir fired Machar as his deputy in July, sparking concerns about possible tribal clashes. Machar, who has expressed a willingness to contest the presidency in 2015, said after he was fired that if the country is to be united it cannot tolerate a “one man’s rule or it cannot tolerate dictatorship.”

His ouster, part of a wider dismissal of the entire Cabinet by Kiir, had followed reports of a power struggle within the ruling party. At the time, the United States and the European Union urged calm amid fears the dismissals could spark political upheaval in the country. —AP