South Sudan accuses north of air attack

The south is preparing to secede on July 9 and fears of fresh fighting between the two long-standing rivals grew after the north seized the disputed Abyei region on May 21.

Northern forces and southern-aligned armed groups have also been fighting for nearly a week in northern-run oil state Southern Kordofan, which borders Abyei and southern Unity state.

Philip Aguer, spokesman for the south's Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA), said the northern military was trying to occupy areas near the border whose exact position is yet to be decided.

"There has been an air bombardment by northern forces in Unity state, in the morning yesterday and again in the afternoon. Three people were killed in the morning," Aguer said. The three dead were civilians, he said.

"We are expecting not only air attacks but also ground forces. We know their forces are moving from Abyei towards Unity state

We are getting ready to defend ourselves. Our forces near the border are on maximum alert and are expecting an attack any time," he added.

A spokesman for the northern army was not immediately available to comment.

South Sudan voted to secede in a January referendum promised by a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of brutal civil war between the north and south.

That vote went more smoothly and peacefully than many analysts and humanitarian groups had predicted, but a continued lack of agreement between the two sides on unresolved questions such as the position of the border has complicated the split.

Abyei, long a centrepiece of the north-south divide, has been one of the most contentious issues. The fertile, oil-producing region is used all year by the south-linked Dinka Ngok people and part of the year by northern Misseriya nomads.

Khartoum took control of area with tanks and troops nearly three weeks ago, following an attack on a convoy of northern soldiers and U.N. peacekeepers that was blamed on southern forces.

The north's advance caused tens of thousands of people to flee and sparked an international outcry.

Northern government forces have been fighting armed groups in the volatile Southern Kordofan border state for nearly a week. Thousands of people have been displaced there, according to the United Nations.

Copyright Reuters, 2011