Fresh clashes near South Sudan's oil hub of Malakal
JUBA - Fresh clashes broke out around South Sudan's second-largest city of Malakal on Tuesday, a rebel spokesman and a government official said, the latest turn in the struggle for the capital of the oil-producing Upper Nile region.
The United Nations said Malakal, on the banks of the White Nile near the country's northern border with Sudan, was largely deserted after civilians fled the fighting.
"The rebels had been trying to provoke the SPLA all this time because the SPLA has been given instruction not to wage offensives against the rebel forces," said military spokesman Colonel Santo Domic Chol, using the acronym for the military, known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army.
"This is in line with the call by the president for the national dialogue," he added, referring to a presidential directive on dealing with the rebels.
