JUBA
At least 144 people were killed in two days of clashes between South Sudan's army and rebels in the Upper Nile State, an army spokesman has said.
Philip Aguer said around 127 rebels and 17 soldiers were killed in the clashes, which erupted following the collapse of peace talks between the government and rebels in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
Aguer said the rebels had attacked Manyo County of the Upper Nile State on Sunday, triggering confrontations with government troops.
He noted that the confrontations continued through Monday when the South Sudanese army controlled the situation in the area.
South Sudan has been shaken by violence since December of 2013, when President Silva Kiir accused his sacked vice-president Riek Machar of leading a failed coup attempt against his regime.
Hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese have since been displaced in fighting between the two rivals, which has led to an increasingly dire humanitarian situation.
Both rivals held talks in Addis Ababa until a few weeks ago, but they failed to reach an agreement
