New violence fuels war fears
- 12 years ago
Sudan and South Sudan are accusing each other of launching new attacks.
The South says four of its soldiers were killed in an attack by Sudan's armed forces ten kilometres on its side of the border.
Sudan denies the allegation and says it repelled an assault on its own side of the border by rebels it accuses the South of controlling.
The development appears to dash international hopes that tensions could be calmed by the South's agreement to withdraw from a town it's seized in a disputed oil-rich area.
South Sudan says this oil field in Unity was bombed by the Sudanese air force last week.
SOUNDBITE: SOUTH SUDAN ARMY OFFICER, CAPTAIN KUER JUACH ATEM, SAYING (English):
"They want to destroy this oil refinery because they don't have any resources, because this oil belongs to the South."
So far both sides have failed to heed international pressure to return to the negotiating table.
U.S. President Barack Obama is urging both sides to resume talks over a series of territorial and oil-related disputes between them.
Any return to widespread fighting would be devastating for both neighbours, harming their oil-dependent economies and forcing refugees and fighters into the surrounding region.
South Sudan only became an independent state last year after decades of civil war with Sudan that killed about two million people.
Paul Chapman, Reuters
The South says four of its soldiers were killed in an attack by Sudan's armed forces ten kilometres on its side of the border.
Sudan denies the allegation and says it repelled an assault on its own side of the border by rebels it accuses the South of controlling.
The development appears to dash international hopes that tensions could be calmed by the South's agreement to withdraw from a town it's seized in a disputed oil-rich area.
South Sudan says this oil field in Unity was bombed by the Sudanese air force last week.
SOUNDBITE: SOUTH SUDAN ARMY OFFICER, CAPTAIN KUER JUACH ATEM, SAYING (English):
"They want to destroy this oil refinery because they don't have any resources, because this oil belongs to the South."
So far both sides have failed to heed international pressure to return to the negotiating table.
U.S. President Barack Obama is urging both sides to resume talks over a series of territorial and oil-related disputes between them.
Any return to widespread fighting would be devastating for both neighbours, harming their oil-dependent economies and forcing refugees and fighters into the surrounding region.
South Sudan only became an independent state last year after decades of civil war with Sudan that killed about two million people.
Paul Chapman, Reuters