Heavy Fighting in South Sudan Oil Town

Fierce fighting has erupted in South Sudan's key northern oil hub of Bentiu, with rebels on the attack to recapture the town from government forces, the army and aid workers said Wednesday.

The fighting also marks an end to a slight lull in hostilities in the country's 10-month-old civil war following the end of the rainy season which made many roads impassable.

"Bentiu is under attack from the south and north," army spokesman Philip Aguer said.

An aid worker in the United Nations base outside the town reported explosions throughout Wednesday afternoon, but it was not possible to verify who was in control.

The town, state capital of the previously key oil-producing Unity state, has changed hands several times since the war broke out in December 2013, but has been in government hands since May.

When rebels loyal to ousted vice president Riek Machar stormed the town in April, they unleashed two days of ethnic slaughter as they hunted down civilians sheltering in mosques, churches and a hospital, according to the U.N..

Both sides in the conflict -- Machar's forces and troops loyal to President Salva Kiir -- have been accused of war crimes including mass killings, rape, attacks on hospitals and places of worship and recruiting child soldiers.

Thousands of people have been killed and almost two million have been forced from their homes, including almost 100,000 people who are sheltering in squalid U.N. peacekeeping bases -- including in Bentiu -- fearing they will be killed if they leave.