Juba - South Sudan rebels and government troops battled Monday over the
strategic town of Nasir, the United Nations said, with rebels launching
their largest offensive since an oft-broken May truce.
Heavy shooting continued for a second day with fighting continuing in the
northern town and rebel forces apparently in "firm control" of the centre,
the UN spokesperson Joe Contreras said.
The United Nations warned Sunday that the fresh rebel offensive "represents
the most serious resumption of hostilities" since President Salva Kiir and
his former deputy, rebel leader Riek Machar, met in May promising again to
stick to a January ceasefire.
The United States condemned the rebel attack on Nasir saying the town's
residents "have suffered from frequent and horrific acts of violence and
human rights abuses since fighting broke out in mid-December, causing
widespread displacement and a worsening humanitarian crisis as civilians
fear returning to their homes".
Famine conditions
"We call on both parties to immediately end all such attacks and fully
adhere to their ... commitments to cease hostilities," deputy State
Department spokesperson Marie Harf said in a statement.
She warned that "famine conditions" were looming in some areas of the
country, making it "increasingly urgent that both parties immediately
recommit themselves to inclusive, political negotiations", recalling that
leaders from both sides were on notice of possible US sanctions for any
human rights abuses or for threatening peace.
More than seven months of war has left thousands dead and displaced 1.5
million people, and aid agencies are warning of famine if fighting
continues.
UNMISS, the UN mission, laid the blame for the truce violation squarely with
Machar's forces.
The rebels claim to control the town, their former headquarters, located
some 500km north of Juba and close to the Ethiopian border.
Heaviest clashes
But the United Nations said that fighting was going on, with the heaviest
clashes Monday reported around the government army barracks, just west of
the town.
The UN peacekeepers remain in control of their base, where more than two
dozen civilians are sheltering inside.
Fighting in South Sudan had eased since May, in part due to heavy rains that
have hampered troop movements.
Previous ceasefire deals have failed to stick, and peace talks in luxury
hotels in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa have made little progress.
Last month they halted indefinitely, with both sides refusing to attend the
discussions, and blaming each other for the failure.
Earlier this month the departing UN representative in South Sudan Hilde
Johnson issued a scathing attack on the country's leaders, lashing out at
both the government and rebels, calling them a "self-serving elite"
responsible for a looming "man-made famine".
Civilians have been massacred and dumped in mass graves, patients murdered
in hospitals and churches, and entire towns flattened as urban centres,
including key oil-producing hubs, changed hands several times.