{UAH} South Sudan government retakes capital as US warns of 'all-out civil war'

South Sudanese soldiers gather for a briefing at the army general headquarters in Juba

South Sudan's embattled government has achieved the upper hand in the country's civil war, launching an offensive to recapture both of the state capitals under rebel control.

Only last Friday, foreigners were leaving the national capital, Juba, on board emergency evacuation flights. Rebels under Riek Machar, the vice-president, seemed close enough to threaten the city.

Since then, however, the tables have turned and government forces appear to have secured Juba, aided by 1,200 soldiers deployed by neighbouring Uganda. Shops, banks and markets are open as usual - although most petrol stations ran dry. Soldiers guarded all of Juba's strategic locations, notably the airport and the bridge over the White Nile, and a T-72 tank stood outside the presidential palace.

The government has launched an offensive to retake Bor and Bentiu, the capitals of Jonglei and Unity states respectively. If it succeeds, the insurgents would suffer their biggest defeat since the war began last month.

Col Philip Aguer, the army spokesman, said the assault on Bentiu was being pressed home from the north and west simultaneously - and some units were only five miles outside the town.

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