South Sudan’s government said Tuesday that it was poised to recapture a key town from rebel forces, as peace talks being held in neighbouring Ethiopia appeared to be making slow progress.The claim came amid renewed warnings of a fast deteriorating humanitarian situation, with the aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warning that people displaced by the conflict were at risk of epidemics.“It is a matter of hours that the SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) will announce the capture of Bor,” a government official told AFP, amid reports that government reinforcements were being poured into the battle near Bor, a state capital situated 200 kilometres (130 miles) north of Juba.Rebel spokesman Moses Ruai Lat, however, dismissed the claim as “lies”“That is war propaganda. We have no problem in the areas we control,” he asserted.Meanwhile, peace talks aimed at ending the conflict entered into a second day at a luxury hotel in Addis Ababa, although a brief morning session was adjourned with members of the government delegation heading back to Juba for “consultations” with President Salva Kiir.“We met this morning and discussed several issues included cessation of hostilities, and the question of detainees loyal to Kiir’s rival Riek Machar, a former vice-president and nominal rebel leader,” South Sudan’s Information Minister Michael Makuei, told AFP.The talks, brokered by the East African regional bloc IGAD, are aimed at ending more than three weeks of fighting in the world’s newest nation.The conflict has left thousands dead, according to UN officials, while more than 200,000 people have been displaced or have fled the country.The fighting that began on December 15 as a clash between army units loyal to President Kiir and those loyal to Machar, has escalated into an all-out war between government troops and a loose alliance of ethnic militia forces and mutinous army commanders.A key sticking point has been rebel and international demands that the South Sudanese government releases 11 officials close to Machar so they can participate in the talks.
