S.Sudan mediators urge end to 'senseless fighting'

Addis Ababa (AFP) - East African mediators seeking to broker peace in South Sudan on Saturday denounced ongoing "senseless fighting" between rival sides in a conflict that has ravaged the new country for the past nine months.

East Africa's regional IGAD bloc, which has been mediating the talks between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar, lamented the fighting in Renk county and near Malakal town, both in northeastern Upper Nile State near the Sudan border.

"The (IGAD) special envoys regret this unfortunate turn of events and call upon both parties to immediately stop the senseless fighting," it said in a statement.

With negotiations set to resume in Ethiopia in the next few days, the envoys added: "It is unfortunate that this trend of events has been observed every time a new session of talks begins, and any such sideshows aimed at derailing the peace process will not be tolerated.”

Fighting broke out in the oil-rich country, also the world's youngest nation, in December 2013 following a clash between Kiir's troops and fighters loyal to Machar.

The war spread rapidly across the country and has been marked by widespread human rights abuses and atrocities by both sides.

Previous ceasefire agreements have all been broken, and efforts to form a unity government have so far failed.

As the power struggle between Kiir and Machar continues, the United Nations has said that the country's food crisis is the "worst in the world" and aid workers have warned of the risk of famine.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than 1.8 million have fled.