SOUTH Sudan government troops captured the rebel stronghold of Nasir in Upper Nile state today and took back control of Unity state capital Bentiu yesterday, sending rebels fleeing toward the Ethiopian border. 

The government offensive comes just days after South Sudanese President Salva Kiir told US Secretary of State John Kerry that he was ready to hold peace talks with rebel leader and former vice-president Riek Machar. 

But a spokesman for Mr Machar’s negotiating team in Ethiopia said they first wanted a “programme” that included a timeline for the formation of a transitional government.