70 killed in South Sudan clashes

Two days of heavy fighting between rebels and the south Sudanese army in the oil-producing states of Unity and Upper Nile, have left at least 70 people dead, an army spokesman said Friday. At least 30 soldiers and 11 rebels died in clashes that broke out on Thursday morning in Mayom county, in Unity state, said Philip Aguer, spokesman for the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
"The fighting was very heavy, but the rebels are now being pursued," said Aguer, who added that 34 SPLA soldiers were also wounded. "The group has split into two groups - one going towards the border with the north and another into a swamp area." Aguer said the fighting began after the breakdown of talks aimed at persuading the rebels, who totalled "several hundred well-armed men," to join the southern army.
In neighbouring Upper Nile state, clashes between the army and a separate militia group, which Aguer said was responsible for a bloody raid on the state capital Malakal last Saturday, killed 25 rebels and four SPLA soldiers. "The rebel dead are 25 and there are two captured vehicles, while on the side of the SPLA four were killed," the army spokesman said. The rebels' commander, known as Ulony, was wounded in both arms, but was believed to have escaped across the border into north Sudan. "Our troops chased him and the rest of his forces but they could not continue across the border," Aguer said. United Nations officials confirmed that heavy clashes had taken place, but they were unable to verify the casualty figures.