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S. Sudan rivals fight to capture key oil town as leaders push for peace
South Sudanese troops loyal to President Salva Kiir pictured at Bor airport after they re-captured it from rebel forces, on December 25, 2013. Government forces and rebels in South Sudan were on December 27, 2013 battling for control of a key oil town as regional powers met in an effort to broker an end to the worsening civil war.
What you need to know:
- Government forces and rebels in South Sudan were on Friday battling for control of a key oil town as regional powers met in an effort to broker an end to the worsening civil war.
- In the Kenyan capital Nairobi, regional leaders gathered for a fresh attempt to draw up a peace plan that could broker an end to the nearly two weeks of fighting, which has left thousands dead and tens of thousands of others seeking protection with the UN amid a wave of ethnic violence.
- The fighting in South Sudan started on December 15 after Kiir accused Machar, whom he sacked in July, of attempting a coup.
Government forces and rebels in South Sudan were on Friday battling for control of a key oil town as regional powers met in an effort to broker an end to the worsening civil war.
Witnesses reported heavy fighting overnight in Malakal, capital of the oil-producing Upper Nile State, and both government forces allied to President Salva Kiir and rebels loyal to ex-Vice President Riek Machar insisted they were in control after days of street battles.
In the Kenyan capital Nairobi, regional leaders gathered for a fresh attempt to draw up a peace plan that could broker an end to the nearly two weeks of fighting, which has left thousands dead and tens of thousands of others seeking protection with the UN amid a wave of ethnic violence.
The United Nations meanwhile announced extra troops and “critical assets” like helicopters would be on the ground by Saturday.
UN officials have admitted to being badly overstretched and unable to cope with the dual role of protecting as well as feeding and sheltering terrified civilians.
A rebel spokesman in Unity State, Moses Ruai Lat, said “the whole of Malakal” was now in the hands of Dr Machar’s loyalists, who already control Bentiu, capital of the neighbouring oil-producing Unity State.
“All those forces who are loyal to the president have been cleared and the former governor of Upper Nile, Simon Kun Poch, is on the run,” he told AFP.
DEFENCE MINISTER CLAIMS DISINFORMATION
But South Sudanese Defence Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk dismissed the claim was “disinformation”.
“The elements loyal to Riek Machar were defeated and they are no longer in Malakal. The town is under full government control,” he said, adding that government troops— the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA)— were reinforcing their presence in the town.
On Thursday, South Sudan’s army spokesman Philip Aguer said the town was divided into two, with the rebels controlling the southern part and SPLA controlling the north.
Witnesses and independent sources reported fierce overnight street fighting, suggesting the situation on the ground was far less clear.
The fighting in South Sudan started on December 15 after Kiir accused Machar, whom he sacked in July, of attempting a coup.
Machar denied this, and said the president was exploiting a clash between members of the army as a pretext to carry out a purge.
Fighting has since spread to half of South Sudan’s 10 states, with the violence taking on an ethnic dimension — pitting members of Kiir’s Dinka tribe against Machar’s Nuer community and atrocities reported to have been carried out by both sides.
Witnesses have reported massacres, summary executions and rapes, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has promised those responsible would be “held accountable”.
