south sudan's army could launch a strike against rebels in the jonglei state within hours. rebels are in control of the city of bor. at least 45 people have been reported kills in another day of intense aerial attacks in the syrian city of aleppo. authorities have been bombing the city for days. >> and the inventer of the ak .47 has died at the age of 94. >>> let's look more closely at south sudan. the army is key to power there. now as the president is supposed to be in control of the military, but his arrival say are loyal and they control the jonglei state and the upper state, whoever controls the oil is in control of the country. after all, oil exports are accountable for 95% of the south sudan state. >>> joining us from washington, d.c, amadusi, can we just start with just the whole idea of where south sudan is headings? the world civil war has been thrown around quite a lot. are we at that point? >> i'm sorry, i can't hear you. >> firstly let me check. can you hear me amadusi? >> yes, now i can hear you. >> okay, okay. we're talking about just starting with the overal

amid-jonglei state, seized and held by fighters loyal to the former vice president riek machar. haru mutasa is the first international journalist to reach there, and her report contains some images that may be disturbing. >> collecting bodies in jonglei state will be a grim task. army officials say these men defected and joined the rebels, al jazeera can't independently verify this. officials are among the dead. the killings happened during days of fighting where troops and rebels loyal to the vice president riek machar. riek machar tried to topple president salva kiir, he's on the run with other rebels like this man. >> they are moving together. they are collecting all the cars - the government cars, the cars of the ngos, the cars of oil limited. almost over 100 cars, small cars and trucks. they are moving with them. they are moving together. >> riek machar denies allegations made by the government. people here have experienced violence before. in 1991 a power struggle between the founding father and another destabilized the community. government forces recaptured bor from the

. >> around 3,000 foreigners are interested in the city of bor in jonglei state because of the fighting. some escaped and returned to juba. >> they are rotten. >> terrified and traumatised kenyan women telling their ambassador saying they can't believe they survived the violence in bor. they say they were airlifted by a u.n. helicopter. >> it was a miracle. the guys came to pick up the u.s. citizens, when they discovered the u.s. citizens had been evacuated they gave a chance to 15 women. 10 kenyans, and five you gannedans. >> they shared horror stories of shootings and bodies dumped in the river, and widespread looting that left many of them with nothing. >> i have my passport that is it. nothing else. since monday i've been like this. i don't care. i'm going home. >> those in the relatively calm capital want out. kenyan officials say there's 30,000 kenyans in south sudan. two have decide, and 10,000 kenyans applied for emergency travel documents. >> this is the third batch of kenyans to be airlifted out. kenyan military officials say the priority is to get women is children out. >> ke

but it's armed youth who are increasingly taking matters into their hands in different parts of the jonglei state. it's worrying and we will do everything we can in the united nations to make sure the people that sought refuge, that they will be safe. >> here at the base in juba, how many people do you have and what challenges do you face looking after them? >> there's two bases here. and as you can see from the throngs behind me, we are over 10,000 people now and over at the other site it's the same number. what they need most is protection. what these people need most is to feel safe. at the moment they don't. the story is the same. tomorrow i plan to go into another part of the country. and what the - the real story here is that this is a political struggle that goes across every community. every community is affected by the slide into a precarious situation. it's a massive blow for the situation in south sudan. a couple of weeks ago we had a private investment conference. delegati delegations from 1200 companies looking to invest. it was about development, and now in the last eight days

. >> we hear that there is fresh fighting in bor, the capital of south sudan's jonglei state. the government defense forces confirmed that the fighting began early in the morning after rebel forces loyal to former vice president supported by tribal militias known as the white army attacked. and it's been confirmed that fresh fighting caused displacement to people, going the u.n. base. most of the fighting is taking place in bor and malabbinga, the capitals of south sudan's oil-producing religions, in malabbingal the fighting cost a massive destruction and high death toll. the town is in the hands of government troops, displaced residents are not confident enough to return to their hotels. >> recent fighting turned bus lipping malabbinga into a ghost town. apart from government soldiers, the town is almost deserted. this is the commander of the government forces who control it. the fighting was a continuation that started in juba. we withdrew from the town when they attacked. three days later, they began looting. we recaptured the town from them. >> bodies lie in the street, ee

this family wants to go to war in jonglei state, to bring back the remains of the loved one. he was a brig deer general in the army killed on december 16th. >> he had to bring back his body, but it was buried in the bush, yes. there's no way. also they were fighting. they were carted off somewhere. they buried him. juba is quiet. there's still fighting in the oil-rich state of unity and other states. the kenyan president and the prime minister of ethiopia were in the capital trying to broker peace talks. >> the issues we discussed were among others, one is on the decision of hostilities, and the second issue is on the immediate start of talks or dialogue to settle the issue politically, and the third issue is on the detaining or suspects of the coup, and the four is the human tare yn crisis. for that to happen the president of south sudan, and his former deputy, who he accuses of attempting a coup, need to put aside their differences and compromise. >> live to nairobi now, where the summit on south sudan is taking place. who is expected to attend the summit? >> well, this is

away from the key city of bor in south sudan. 25,000 armed youths are reportedly ready to attack jonglei. 45 presidents who are in a power struggle m. they have denied they were following the orders. bangui moonis calling on the government of sudan to address the u.n. peacekeepers. he was speaking after two soldiers. 14 peacekeepers have been killed in dar fewer in the past six months, many blamed on rebel tribes who took up arms a decade ago. >> doctors without borders says 100,000 are sheltering at a makeshift camp in the democratic republic of congo. the number of rev beans in bangui has doubled. there has been a surge in fighting despite the presence of u.n. and national troops. christian and other groups have been targetting each other. >> for three weeks now, these people have not received any assistance for health and water. there are no toilets. water is not sufficient and there's no distribution for food or shelter. there's much to do. we have to improve hygiene before it became catastrophic. it's an emergency, and we must do something quickly. >> 20,000 ugandan children have be

former vice president riek machar marching on the strategic town of bor, which is the capital of the jonglei state. they had been taken by the rebels. the government forces took control of it after fighting in that time. riek machar is using tribal militia. they are from the subtribe of former vice president riek machar's nuer tribe. his side is not marching or denying the government claims. the men are numbering up to 25,000, and tribal militia, people that have come to the government defense forces. we know from the government that the militias are 13 miles out of bor town. with them fighting for bor town and conflict within the unity state, it would complicate efforts to try and bring the two sides together in talks. east african leaders meeting in nairobi give the two sides up to 31st december come together and hold face to face talks. so far the government committed's to talks with their opponent, but former vice president riek machar said that he is not going to talk about a ceasefire until there is proper mechanisms for monitoring the cease fire that has been put in place. >> thousand

the government is sending troops and tanks to jonglei state to take on the rebels. re rehn gayed soldiers are taking control. gun fire hit american aircraft was they were about to land and evacuate u.s. citizens. four were injured. in the middle - people looking for safety. >> bor is a strategic location within south sudan, and within the crisis both factions and the government forces are using it as a point that they want to dominate. >> however, even the united nations has been a target. on saturday it held a memorial service for two indian peacekeepers killed at a base at akobo. it had been attacked by 2,000 armed youth. >> the attack happened like a frontal attack on the base itself. the two peacekeepers were killed in action in protecting and trying to prevent the entry into the camp. >> the fighting began with a power struggle between rival factions and the army. it got worse when the president salva kiir accused his former deputy riek machar of attempting a coup. >> they are suspected also to be involved in the attempted military coup. african foreign ministe

the government is sending troops and tanks to jonglei.ehn gayed soldiers are taking control of the state capital and are attacking people. on saturday gunfire hit fully u.s. military aircraft as they were about to land and evacuate american citizens from the town. four u.s. citizens were injured. in the middle of this are civilians looking for protection. 35,000 are camped out at u.n. compounds. >> bor is strategic. therefore within the crisis both factions and the government forces are using it as a point that they want to dominate. however, even the united nations has become a target. on saturday it held a memorial service. it had been attacked by 2,000 from the tribe. this attack happened like a frontal attack on the base itself. the two peace keepers killed were killed in action preventing, trying to protect the entry into the camp. >> the fighting began with a power struggle between rival factions in the army. >> it got worse when the president accused the former depu deputy, riek machar, of attempting a coup. >> african foreign mini

now armed youth who are increasing reply taking nature into their own hands in different parts of jonglei state. we will do whatever we can in the united nations to make sure the people who have sought refuge, over 15,000, that they will be safe. >> will everything be done to stop a civil war to break out? >> well, everything will be done, i'm focusing first and foremost making sure the people are safe and do the best we can getting to them on time, those engaged in that process to do everything they can to bring people back to the table to talk to each other and not settle any differences that they have by the barrel of a gun. >> do we have any idea about the death toll since all this started? >> well i think it's difficult to say with any precision but i'm sure at this stage we'll be over a thousand, in the low thousands. when we talk about the displaced people who have sought shelter in the u.n. bases we're now approaching 50,000 people but that doesn't include the people who are looking for shelter in churches, in the can a need rals here in the exap, in the bush hiding, we've had cou

former vice president riek machar to be marching on the town of bor, the capital of the volatile jonglei state. they have been taken by the rebels, but the government forces took control of it, the fighting in the town. the government say riek machar is using tribal militia. they are from a subtried of former vice president riek machar's nuer tribe. his side has not said that they are not marching or denied the claims but say they are numbering up to 25,000, and no tribe all militia. what we no so far is from the government that the militias are about 13 miles out of bor town, which with these fighting for bor town and conflict within unity state, it would complicate efforts to try to bring the two sides together in talks. east african leaders meeting in nairobi give the two sides up to 31 december to come together and hold face to face talks. so far the government committed itself to talks with their oappoints, but former vice president riek machar said that he is not going to talk about a ceasefire until there is proper mechanisms for monitoring the ceasefire is in place. >> and some p

now the white army has been responsible for most of the volatility and violence in the jonglei state involved in cattle reswrestling, and the spiritual leader told them they will have to attack bor and take it otherwise all of them will go blind. >> controlling these fighters, could they fighters be heading to bor under their own steam, not because they have been told to do so by riek machar? >> well, riek machar says the men are allied to him but he says they are not white army. he says they are men who have turned their backs on the government and the south sudan defense forces so he doesn't deny that the men are his supporters. the only thing that he is denying is they are members of the ethnic militia, the white army. what we know at the moment is that most of this fighting started after riek machar's falout with president salva kiir, that is why the government says these men are acting on the orders of riek machar. >> okay, mohamed, thank you very much. mohamed ado live for us from the capital of juba. >>> central african republic, thousands have people have immigrated to chad.

. >> this family wants to go to bor in jonglei state. he was a brigadier general in the army, killed on december 16th. >> it was difficult to get his body. it was buried somewhere in the bush. yes. it could not be brought here, there's no way. could not be taken to bor, there was fighting. they were carted off and they buried him there. >> juba is relatively quiet, but there is fighting in the oil-rich state of unity. the kenyan president and the prime minister of ethiopia were in the capital trying to broker a peace talk. >> issues discussed, among others, one is on the decision of hostilities, and the second issue is on the immediate start of talks or dialogue to settle the issue politically, and the third issue is on the detainees who are suspects of the coup. and the four is the humanitarian crisis. >> for that to happen the president of south sudan and his former deputy need to put aside their differences and compromise. >> an american kidnapped in pakistan is pleading for the u.s. government for his freedom. warren winestein was ki

you have reports in jonglei province, dinka killed in others by supporters of riek machar. it's a dangerous situation, a political dispute that spun out of control. the lack of control by the political leaders it to address it in other ways. >> how difficult and dangerous is it for u.s. troops who are trying to get in and get the final men's out of there? >> it depends where they are coming in. if they are talking about juba, the capital is a little quite now. they can do that. if they are going after americans upcountry, it's more chancy, because you have militias and others with arms up there who may not know what the helicopters are coming in for. if it's juba. they can do it. our special envoy has been in juba and out again. as far as up north in bor, that's where the americans were injured when the osprey aircraft were fired upon. how sophisticated weapons were on the ground. do they have things they can take down - say, rescue helicopters. >> they could. they have shot down helicopters before. a u.n. helicopter was shot down a few months ago. they have the weaponry th

government soldiers have lost control of the unity state to rebels, and are battling to recapture bor in jonglei state. >> a lot of people are now in the u.n. compound in bor town. the whole town is vacated completely. it is only these rebel soldiers who move about in the town. all the bodies have not been collected. we don't know how far, what is the number. dead up to now. the town is under the control of the rebels. >> the rebels are loyal to former vice president salva kiir. riek machar is accused of plotting the coup. he de nice this, but speaking to al jazeera's david foster he says he is ready to run the country. snoom so the answer is yes, you would like it be the next president. >> yes. >> no one knows where riek machar is and government officials seem to be losing patience. >> since he continues with the atrocities against the people, definitely the government of south sudan will not tolerate that. we will not allow him to kill the people. we fall on our hands and keep on waiting for him to accept peace. i strongly believe that after this there'll be no way, but we'll have to move to p

. >> while south sudan's governments said the troops recaptured the town of bor, the captain of jonglei state has been seized by rebels, loyal to the former vice president riek machar. the first international journalist is at bor and joins us on the line. tell us the situation there. >> there is activity outside the un base. people are coming out for a few minutes, to rush home. they say they feel better. the islamists advise they are deserted. there are a lot of dead bodies on the road. some have been dead. vultures pick off them. bodies decomposing the stench of death everywhere. we see a lot of men in military uniform who get on the ground. we ask soldiers who they are. we have no way of confirming whether they are the army or not. things are tense here. people are taking advantage of the calm. they are saying come nightfall they'll head to the u.n. base where they feel safer. >> just to clarify there, did you say when you asked the armed and uniformed men who they were, they identified themselves as rebel inside bor which is supposed to be recaptured i u.n. troops. >> no. some of th

. >>> and the south sudanese government says 25,000 fighters are marching to the jonglei state. mohamed ado looks at the human cost of the fighting. >> these are the displaced following clashes between rival military factions in southern sudan. almost in the capital of juba they're still not confident enough to return to their homes. the fighting exploits the ethnic division in south sudan as neighbor turn against neighbor. this man says he watched as his brother was shot. >> my brother was killed not by soldiers but bit civilians. he died because he belonged to a certain ethnic group. his body was still in the open when i last remember. >> with thousands living here, there is shortage of even the most basic of services such as clean water. but help is beginning to arrive. here, officials of the world food program distribute food and household items to the displaced. >> it's been a very dhalging task for the wsp, the world food program in terms of distributing food. we are doing so in challenging circumstances but doing our utmost. >> with more and more displaced, the u.n. peace

have taken control over unity state and announced themselves as a governor, and there's fighting in jonglei state. peace negotiations need to proceed immediately. >> how hopeful are you that the talks will bring about something substantial and bring the country closer to peace? >> if president salva kiir and riek machar, his former vice president, can come together to discuss their difference, and if the 11 political detainees, including the secretary-general of the ruling party are included, i think there's a passengers for some of the destabilization and the center falling out of the country to be averted. that alone is not enough. humanitarian crisis is underfolding. we hear reports every day of people targeted for their ethnicity, and in order to avert that save havens need to be established. places that are sacrosanct from attack. the u.s. mission has to take the lead on that. >> sudan came out of a massive bloody long civil war two years ago. they split the country in half. now there's talk about another civil war within the southern half of the country. why the fighting, why are we s

troops are advancing on jonglei to recapture bor from rebels. forces have taken control of unity state, an area with a great deal of oil. we have, to the north and east, upper nile state and from here the bulk of south sudan's revenue comes. >> and now live to juba the national capital. the major battle for the economy is taking place in the north. how difficult is it to work out what is happening at all? >> it's very difficult. that's why some people are concerned. they are not sure what is going on. one side says this, the other says that. the government says they are in control, people shouldn't panic, they should fix the problems. a lot are worried that the violence they see now will escalate. >> the crisis and south sudan is becoming more dangerous. the government is sending troops and tanks to take on the rebels. >> renegade soldiers have taken control of bor and are attacking people. gun higher hit three military aircraft as they were about to land and evacuate american citizens. four u.s. servicemen were injured. in the middle are civili

his location is not known, but he is somewhere in jonglei state. he probably feels he has a bit of a military advantage. i think we are in for rough fighting and times over the next few days as well something sorts itself out. >> we are hearing reports of 25,000 young men. part of the white army, because they cover their faces and body with white ash to repell insects. what do we know about the movement. how seriously do we take it, how serious is it. >> it is dangerous. we have to wait and see what it means. 25,000 is a huge number. the white army is legendary. they are riek machar followers or the same ethnicity - they are nuer - and there is a probability that they may be making this move. that information, of course, is suspect because it comes from riek machar, and others. i don't know that they've been seen on the move yet. if there are, indeed, 25,000 of them, it depends how heavily armed they are. the south sudanese regular army, the s.p.l.a. is moving towards areas, recapturing bor and makala or maybe half of that area. they have a large p