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| Conflict in South Sudan has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes |
Fresh fighting in South Sudan's capital has killed hundreds of people and forced thousands to flee their homes.
A shaky ceasefire has held since late on Monday after fighting raged for four days in the South Sudanese capital Juba, forcing 40,000 people to flee their homes.
The violence echoed fighting that triggered the civil war and marks a fresh blow to last year's deal to end a bitter conflict that began when President Salva Kiir accused ex-rebel and now Vice President Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
The unrest has also plunged into doubt a peace deal signed in August 2015. Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi, reporting from Juba, said the ceasefire appeared to be holding but that there was a sense of uncertainty in the city.
Locals, she said, were wondering about the whereabouts of Machar, who has been in hiding. "What is certain is that he has not left the country," Soi said. "But he says he still feels his life is in danger and until his safety is guaranteed he will not come out."
Speaking to regional grouping IGAD in Kigali on Saturday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said a "critical stage" in the South Sudan crisis had been reached.