JUBA: South Sudan’s army and rebels accused each other of responsibility for fresh fighting Saturday in the north-east despite a peace agreement to end a brutal 20-month civil war.

The renewed clashes came after the pact, brokered by the regional eight-nation IGAD bloc along with the UN, the African Union, China, Britain, Norway and the US, provided for a permanent ceasefire supposed to enter into force on Saturday.

“Riek Machar’s rebels attacked Malakal yesterday,” Friday, and the “assault on Malakal resumed this (Saturday) morning,” army spokesman Colonel Philip Aguer said at a press conference.

“That’s untrue, their forces attacked us near Malakal,” rebel spokesman James Gatdet Dak told AFP, referring to a strategic northeastern town and a gateway to the country’s last remaining major oil fields.