South Sudan ceasefire takes effect after eleventh-hour clashes

Over two million people have fled their homes from a war marked by ethnic killings, gang rapes and child soldier recruitment in South Sudan (AFP Photo/Fabio Bucciarelli)

Juba (AFP) - South Sudan's army and rebels accused each other of responsibility for fresh fighting Saturday in the north-east despite a peace agreement to end a brutal 20-month civil war.

"Riek Machar's rebels attacked Malakal yesterday," Friday, and the "assault on Malakal resumed this (Saturday) morning," army spokesman Colonel Philip Aguer said at a press conference.

"That's untrue, their forces attacked us near Malakal," rebel spokesman James Gatdet Dak told AFP.

It was not immediately clear if a ceasefire under the peace agreement had entered into force on Saturday afternoon.

The accord gave a 72-hour deadline for a permanent cessation of hostilities.

Facing the threat of international sanctions, South Sudan leader Salva Kiir signed the deal on Wednesday but annexed a list of reservations that he said would have to be addressed for the deal to take hold in the world's newest nation.

Machar, Kiir's former deputy who he later sacked, has said the reservations cast "doubts" on the government's commitment.

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