JUBA, South Sudan — Regional leaders in East Africa announced Friday that they had made progress on a peace deal to help end the crisis in South Sudan, but there was no indication that either side in the conflict was abiding by a cease-fire.
Clashes between the rebels and the military continued as government forces launched a major offensive to retake a city in an oil-producing region. Soon after, the military announced that it had seized control of the city, Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile State and the scene of intense fighting in recent days.
"The push against Malakal began at 6:30 a.m. and was done by noon," said Col. Philip Aguer, a spokesman for the military.
Having recaptured the strategic city of Bor this week, the government seemed to have the upper hand, however fleetingly, in the seesaw battle for control of this two-year-old country.
Clashes began last week after what President Salva Kiir described as an attempted coup led by his former vice president, Riek Machar. Mr. Machar denied that he was part of a plot to overthrow the government, but has since demanded that Mr. Kiir step down. Mr. Machar's political allies were arrested, and he fled Juba, remaining in an undisclosed location.
"We don't know his whereabouts; if we knew his whereabouts we would have arrested him," said Michael Makuei Lueth, the government information minister. Asked about the penalties facing Mr. Machar or other suspects in the coup plot, he raised the possibility of the death penalty, "either by firing squad or to be hanged by the neck."
Even so, the United States special envoy Donald Booth said Friday that Mr. Kiir had agreed to release most of Mr. Machar's colleagues who had been detained, a significant step toward fulfilling Mr. Machar's demands to formally begin negotiations, according to a State Department official.
The political struggle quickly took on an ethnic dimension, with attacks against civilians and reprisals between the two largest groups, the Dinka and the Nuer. The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed in the conflict, though some observers said that with fighting in more than 20 cities and towns, the number of dead was likely to grow significantly.
The conflict in South Sudan has been the subject of grave concern in East Africa, with fears of a protracted and bloody civil war in the landlocked nation. Regional leaders said at a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on Friday that they would not accept a violent overthrow of Mr. Kiir, who was democratically elected.
The meeting followed a trip to South Sudan by President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia on Thursday.
"We have a very small window of opportunity to secure peace, which we urge all stakeholders to seize," Mr. Kenyatta said Friday.
It was clear, however, that no formal recognition of a cease-fire had been made by the rebels, and the government's military assault on Friday seemed to indicate that strategic considerations on the battlefield, more than politics, were ruling the day.
In a communiqué after the meeting, the leaders of the neighboring countries said they "welcomed the commitment by the government of the Republic of South Sudan to an immediate cessation of hostilities and called upon Dr. Riek Machar and other parties to make similar commitments."
In a statement on Friday, Doctors Without Borders said more than 70 wounded people had "flooded into the hospital" in Malakal. Witnesses there confirmed the government's account that it was in control of the city.
Bishop Hilary Garang Deng of Malakal said days of fighting had prevented residents from celebrating Christmas, as "bullets were flying in the air."
Rebel fighters looted the market, and those who tried to prevent that "were beaten up," he said.
"There was lawlessness," he added. "No water, no food, no electricity."
Nicholas Kulish reported from Juba, and Isma'il Kushkush from Khartoum, Sudan.
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