South Sudanese troops recaptured Malakal, the capital of the state that is home to the country’s only functioning oil fields, ending more than a month of rebel occupation amid faltering regional efforts to broker a truce in the nearly four-month-old conflict. Government troops seized control of Malakal, located 400 miles north of the capital Juba, after a two-day gunbattle with rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar, military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer told The Wall Street Journal. Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state, has changed hands several times since the conflict between rebel fighters and government troops erupted in mid-December, raising concerns over the safety of the vast oil fields in the beleaguered nation. “Our forces have finally taken full control of Malakal, the rebels are in disarray,” Col. Aguer said, adding that rebels had virtually “destroyed and looted everything” during their monthlong occupation. Review events […]