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South Sudan Army Battles Rebels in Key Oil-State

South Sudan Army Battles Rebels in Key Oil-State
folder_openAfrica... access_time9 years ago
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Local Editor

Rebels in South Sudan battled government forces Thursday in a renewed offensive targeting the young nation's key oil fields, the army said, amid famine warnings by the United Nations.

South Sudan Army Battles Rebels in Key Oil-StateFighters loyal to rebel chief Riek Machar recaptured the town of Bentiu on Tuesday, the state capital of oil-producing Unity, with UN peacekeepers reporting corpses littering the streets.

South Sudan's army said fighting was ongoing Thursday as it tried to counterattack.

"Bentiu is still under the hands of the rebels but we are closing in," army spokesman Philip Auger said. "There is still fighting."

The surge in fighting in the four-month-long conflict comes amid warnings by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that more than one million people are at risk of famine in the war-torn country.

Peacekeepers from the UN mission in South Sudan patrolling the rebel-held state capital said they had seen between 35 and 40 bodies along the roadside, the majority in military uniform.
"UNMISS condemns these renewed hostilities in the strongest possible terms", the mission said in a statement, saying it was "gravely concerned" at the "serious violations" of a broken ceasefire deal inked in January.

"Fighting will only exacerbate an already dire situation," it added.
Bentiu, one of the most bitterly contested regions in the war, is the first major settlement to have been retaken in a fresh offensive by forces of rebel leader Riek Machar, a former vice-president.

The conflict in South Sudan has left thousands dead and forced around a million people to flee their homes since fighting broke out on December 15 in the capital Juba before spreading to other states in the oil-rich nation.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team