President says troops retake key town

South Sudan President Salva Kiir said on Tuesday that government troops have taken control of the Jonglei state capital, Bor, a key town that rebels loyal to former-vice president Riek Machar seized last week.

"Forces loyal to the government have taken Bor and (are) now clearing whatever forces that are remaining there," Kiir told journalists at his office in Juba.

Most fighting has involved Dinka and Nuer factions of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, with militias and marauding youths also reported to be attacking rival ethnic groups. Kiir, a Dinka, and Machar, a Nuer, both have said the conflict is political, not tribal.

Reuters

(China Daily 12/26/2013 page11)