Rebels in South Sudan took control of nearly all of a strategic city, even as the government and fighters agreed to hold talks for the first time.

Fresh fighting has erupted in Bor, the contested capital of South Sudan’s Jonglei state, as rebels move to retake control from government troops.

More than 80 people were killed when rebels attacked cattle herders in Southern Sudan, while hundreds marched in the southern capital to protest at the unresolved status of a volatile border hotspot.

A TOP militia chief has surrendered in south Sudan after clashes that killed more than 160 people, the army said yesterday, as the soon-to-be independent nation reels from a string of bloody battles.