South Sudanese rebels seize oil pipelines. Mediation halted

The US, Israel, the UN and African leaders have suspended their attempts to mediate the feud between President Salva Kiir and his ousted deputy Riek Machar in South Sudan. Monday, Machar’s rebel forces seized Bentiu, capital of Unity State, one of the country’s ten provinces, through which runs the main pipeline from the South Sudanese oil fields to Port Sudan in the North. The President said a large force is heading out of Juba, the capital, to Bentiu, 1,500 kilometers away, to recover the town. All the parties involved in the South Sudan conflict are now awaiting the outcome of the forthcoming battle for control of the oil pipeline city between the rival armies.