Government forces of South Sudan has recaptured the strategic town of Leer in the oil-rich Unity State, Information Minister Michael Makuei has confirmed.”Our forces have seized Leer and Adok areas,” Makuei told Xinhua over the phone from Juba.
“This means the whole Unity State has come under the control of government forces,” he said. Makuei denied rebel claims of seizing Foluj oilfield in Upper Nile State. “The rebels could not approach Foluj oilfield.
These were false allegations.” On Wednesday, South Sudanese rebels said their forces have gained control over great parts of Foluj oilfield.
A number of foreign oil companies are still operating in South Sudan.
“Leer is fully controlled by the government — in fact the whole of Unity State is now under the government,” Information Minister Michael Makuei told AFP.
The government assault that began late April is one of the heaviest offensives in the 17-month long civil war and has cut off over 650,000 people from aid, with gunmen raping, torching towns and looting relief supplies, according to the United Nations and aid agencies.
Soldiers have been pushing south from the government-held town of Bentiu, state capital of Unity state, towards the town of Leer. There was no confirmation from rebel forces that the town had been taken.
Fighting in South Sudan broke out in December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of attempting a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings across the country.
Leer, the birthplace of Machar, was ransacked by government forces in January 2014, with gunmen looting and torching the hospital there run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF). MSF has since rebuilt the hospital, the only referral facility in opposition areas.
Aid groups have recently pulled out of battle zones, leaving thousands of people in need as rebel forces fight for control of the country’s crucial oil fields.
South Sudan depends heavily on its oil exports to keep the government running and the military’s latest assault is widely seen as an attempt to secure all the oil fields and get them running. But the rebels are fighting back, leaving thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire.
Rebel forces on Wednesday said they were poised to take the oil hub of Paloch in Upper Nile state, but the military said it repulsed the attack.
