Sudan on Tuesday carried out new airstrikes inside South Sudan, as rival armies exchanged artillery fire in the latest round of bloody fighting in contested border regions. An AFP correspondent in the South Sudanese frontline village of Tashwin heard heavy artillery shelling and multiple airstrikes lasting for around an hour, with one bomb dropped by aircraft landing less than a kilometre (mile) away.
The bombing follows border fighting that erupted two weeks ago between the two neighbours, the most serious unrest since Juba's independence, and prompted international fears of a return to full-blown conflict. Southern Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said that Sudanese airplanes "bombarded Abiemnom, well within the sovereign territory of South Sudan."
"Initial reports confirmed that four civilians have been wounded, including a small child," Benjamin told reporters in the Southern capital Juba. Clashes last month broke out along the undemarcated and disputed frontier in the oil producing Heglig area, with each side blaming the other for starting the bloody fighting.
The dusty village of Abiemnom in Unity state is some 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of the border with Sudan, but also lies on a strategic road to the contested Abyei region, some 10 kilometres (six miles) away to the west. "The intended target was a strategic bridge in Abiemnom," leading to Abyei, Benjamin added. Military officials in Sudan were not immediately available to comment.
African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki held talks late last week over the crisis with South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir, but tensions remain high between the two sides. Benjamin claimed northern troops, backed by tanks and proxy militia forces were advancing towards the South's Unity state, where key oil fields are located.
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