South Sudan Fighting Resumes As Ceasefire Hopes Dashed -- The Guardian
South Sudanese rebels have engaged in fresh fighting with government troops, breaking a new ceasefire deal and dashing hopes of a swift end to five months of brutal civil war.
The defence minister, Kuol Manyang, said there had been fighting in the oil-producing state of Upper Nile, and government troops had been ordered not to attack but only to fight in self-defence.
Since the signing of a peace deal last Friday between President Salva Kiir and the rebel leader Riek Machar, both sides have accused each other of launching ground attacks and artillery barrages.
Manyang said Machar was not in control of his troops and that heavily armed militia troops known as the White Army – who smear themselves in wood ash as warpaint and to ward off mosquitoes – had attacked government troops.
"These are irregular forces, the White Army is armed civilians, and they do not know about the cessation of hostilities agreement that was signed," he added. "They are the ones that attacked, because they think the war is still going on."
An army spokesman, Philip Aguer, said monitors from the regional bloc Igad were being sent to Bentiu, capital of the northern oil-producing Unity state, which has swapped hands repeatedly in the conflict. "We are working on their deployment, so that they can observe the situation on the ground," Aguer said.
Kiir has insisted he wants peace, telling crowds in Juba on Sunday that "we have ordered our forces not to lift a foot from where they are to attack rebels".
The two sides had agreed to a ceasefire in January, but that deal quickly fell apart and unleashed a new round of fierce fighting.
Observers have said both sides will face challenges in implementing a truce, with the rebels made up of a loose coalition of army defectors and ethnic rebels.
Each side accuses the other of using mercenaries and rebel forces from neighbouring Sudan, while on the government side – backed by Ugandan troops – the command structure under Kiir is seen as weak.
The war in the world's youngest nation has claimed thousands – and possibly tens of thousands – of lives, with more than 1.2 million people forced to flee their homes.
It started as a personal rivalry between Kiir and Machar, and the army and communities have divided along ethnic lines, pitting members of Kiir's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer.
The UN rights chief Navi Pillay, a former head of the UN genocide court for Rwanda, said she recognised "many of the precursors of genocide" listed in a UN report on atrocities released last week.
The UN food agency has said there is only a "small window of opportunity" to avert famine, and appealed for relief agencies – who have been subjected to armed attacks and looting – to be allowed unfettered access.
The war erupted on 15 December with Kiir accusing Machar of attempting a coup. Machar then fled to the bush to launch a rebellion, insisting that the president had attempted to carry out a bloody purge of his rivals.
