File photo: Reuters

South Sudan's warring sides are blaming each other for new fighting outside the capital that violates a cease-fire.

The fighting erupted Thursday evening between government and opposition forces less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside Juba.

Neither side made claims of deaths. The United States and others have warned against further violations of the Dec. 24 cease-fire. South Sudan's civil war is now in its fifth year, with untold tens of thousands killed.

South Sudan's army blames the latest fighting on Lt. Col. Chan Garang, who defected to the opposition last year. Army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang says the cease-fire "has never been respected."

Opposition spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel says the government is just trying to justify its own violations.

One local nonprofit leader, Edmund Yakani, calls the fighting "shameful."