A retired police general in South Sudan has been shot dead by a soldier while playing cards with his friends in a military barracks in the capital, Juba.

The soldier who killed Major-General Bior Ajoh Bior Kech, 64, was found dead later, the spokesman added.

The motive for the shooting is unclear.

The incident occurred at the barracks in the Gumbo Shirkat suburb on Sunday night.

Last week, two bodyguards of an army general were shot dead by a colleague in a neighbourhood near Juba International Airport.

In another incident, six bodyguards of South Sudan’s Vice-President James Wani Igga were shot dead in a road ambush by rebel National Salvation Front (NAS).

South Sudan has been hit by instability since it gained independence in 2011.