An advance team of monitors sent by east African nations arrived in South Sudan on Sunday to set up a mission tasked with observing a shaky ceasefire agreed by government and rebel forces, Reuters reported. The warring sides signed the ceasefire on Jan. 23 to end weeks of fighting, but sporadic clashes have continued, underlining the challenge regional mediators face when peace talks resume in neighbouring Ethiopia next week. Diplomats expect the monitors will focus on the three flashpoint towns of Malakal and Bentiu, near the country's main oilfields, and Bor, where some of the heaviest clashes have occurred, and the capital Juba.
