Heavy fighting raged in Bentiu this morning during what appears to have been a rebel attempt to drive off the South Sudanese army (SPLA), just one day after it claimed control of the town.

Bentiu, which has been devastated by fighting, was held by government forces from early January to mid April.

Video footage taken by BBC film crew this morning shows government and allied forces passing near the UN base in Bentiu in what the correspondent describes as a retreat.

The footage shows a column of Justice and Equality Movement fighters withdrawing along a main road. The north Sudanese rebel group had denied fighting alongside the government.

John Malok, State Security Advisor, speaking to Radio Tamazuj at about 4:00 p.m. today said the clashes had stopped, and he also maintained that the government still controlled the town after seizing it yesterday.

On the other hand, the rebel spokesman James Gatdet Dak announced to Sudan Tribune that the rebels regained “full control” of the town by about 9:00 a.m., inflicting heavy casualties on “pro-Salva Kiir soldiers and their foreign allies” and pursuing them northwards.

Hilde Johnson, the head of the UN peacekeeping mission, has requested the warring parties “to respect the sanctity of the UN compound and protection site in Bentiu,” a mission spokesperson told Radio Tamazuj.

UN staff in the base have been hiding in bunkers to avoid stray shrapnel or gunfire. Refugees in the camp are unprotected except for their tents.

The UN flights to the city today were canceled, further straining the supply situation for the severely overcrowded base where approximately 25,000 people have sought protection.

Reuters quoted Oxfam spokeswoman Grace Cahill as saying, "The trauma that continued fighting in Bentiu today is having upon civilians is huge."

The aid organization is one of several working to provide services to civilians at the base. 

Photo: JEM fighters leaving Bentiu, 5 May 2014