South Sudan Rebels Seize Regional Capitol Ahead of Peace Talks

By Reuters

01 January 14

Troops loyal to vice-president Riek Machar take control of Bor as west presses both sides to end violence

outh Sudanese rebels loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar have seized control of Bor, the capital of restive Jonglei state, according to the town's mayor.

Nhial Majak Nhial told Reuters that government troops loyal to President Salva Kiir had made a "tactical withdrawal" on Tuesday to Malual Chaat army barracks, two miles (3km) south of the town, after fighting that started at dawn.

"Yes they [rebels] have taken Bor," Nhial said from the national capital Juba, 118 miles (190km) south of Bor.

Western and regional powers have pushed both sides to end the fighting that has killed at least 1,000 people, cut South Sudan's oil output and raised fears of an ethnic-based civil war in the heart of a fragile region.

The information minister, Michael Makuei, said on Monday Machar wanted to seize Bor so he could "talk from a position of strength" at peace talks, which were expected to start in neighbouring Ethiopia on Wednesday.

Government officials said their troops had been battling the ethnic nuer "White Army" militia and forces loyal to Peter Gadet, a former army commander who also rebelled against President Kiir when the fighting broke out in the capital, Juba, on 15 December.

The clashes quickly spread, dividing the country along the ethnic lines of Machar's nuer group and Kiir's dinkas.

Humanitarian organisations say tens of thousands of Bor civilians have crossed the White Nile river to escape the fighting and fled to the swamps.