From a hideout deep in rebel territory, South Sudan’s fugitive former vice president, Riek Machar, is mobilizing insurgent forces with the aim of attacking an oil-rich area called Paloch...Their target, Paloch, in Upper Nile state, is the only operational, oil-producing zone in this new East African nation that last December suddenly imploded, after a power struggle in the capital of Juba disintegrated into brutal civil and ethnic strife that has killed thousands. In December, fighting halted lucrative oil production in South Sudan’s Unity state region and spurred the departure of foreign oil engineers. Analysts believe Machar's plan for Paloch is to create enough havoc to force foreign oil workers to decamp from there as well. That would drastically reduce the flow of oil, thus starving President Salva Kiir of funds but also prolonging a war that so far has shown no sign of abating.