Juba---Rebels in South Sudan have launched a large-scale attack on the strategic northern oil hub and state capital of Malakal, an official and aid sources said Saturday.
Fierce fighting was reported to be raging inside the town, situated in the country's oil-rich north, in what appeared to be a major counter-attack against a several weeks-old offensive by government troops.
"The rebels of Riek Machar have attacked Malakal from all directions, from east, west, north and south, and the fighting up to now is continuing," Information Minister Michael Makuei told AFP.
He said government troops had so far "managed to repulse the rebels" to keep them from capturing the town, the capital of Upper Nile State.
Malakal has changed hands several times since South Sudan's civil war broke out in December 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Machar of attempting a coup. The country has since been carved up along ethnic lines, divided between Kiir's Dinka tribe and Machar's Nuer tribe.
Since the war began tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting in the world's youngest nation, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
Officials said the attack began just before darkness on Friday, with rebels crossing the White Nile River on boats -- apparently aided by a local militia commander from the ethnic Shilluk people who had been a pro-government general.
The commander, Johnson Olony, is a powerful commander in the key oil-producing state of Upper Nile. He has also been accused of abducting scores of children to fight in his force.
"It was Olony who transported the rebels across the river bank to Malakal," Makuei said.
Aid workers in the town who spoke to AFP reported intense gunfire as well as the thump of heavy explosions from artillery or mortar fire.
On Friday a report by the regional bloc pushing peace efforts accused South Sudan's army of carrying out "grave" human rights abuses in their all-out offensive.
East Africa's eight-country IGAD bloc -- whose peace initiative collapsed in March -- condemned the "unwarranted and appalling actions" of the government, reporting "violence targeting civilians, grave human rights abuses and destruction of villages."
AFP
