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Fighting in disputed Sudan town | Fighting in disputed Sudan town |
(9 minutes later) | |
Heavy fighting has resumed in Sudan's oil-rich town of Abyei between the army and southern ex-rebels. | Heavy fighting has resumed in Sudan's oil-rich town of Abyei between the army and southern ex-rebels. |
UN officials say the clashes started a day after they began supplying aid to some 50,000 people who fled the town after last week's clashes. | |
The long-running dispute over the status of Abyei threatens a 2005 peace deal which ended years of war. | |
An administration has yet to be set up in Abyei, which is claimed by both the north and south. | An administration has yet to be set up in Abyei, which is claimed by both the north and south. |
The market area in Abyei was destroyed by mortar fire in last week's fighting and most of the town's population left. | |
Bodies are said by aid workers to be laying in the streets. | Bodies are said by aid workers to be laying in the streets. |
"Fighting started this morning at 0400 (0100 GMT). The SPLA [former rebels] attacked. There's a lull at the moment, but I don't think anybody thinks it's over," an unnamed aid worker told AFP news agency. | "Fighting started this morning at 0400 (0100 GMT). The SPLA [former rebels] attacked. There's a lull at the moment, but I don't think anybody thinks it's over," an unnamed aid worker told AFP news agency. |
An army spokesman said SPLA forces attacked an army camp with tanks and heavy weapons "with the intention of taking over the town". | An army spokesman said SPLA forces attacked an army camp with tanks and heavy weapons "with the intention of taking over the town". |
Brigadier General Osman al-Aghbash told the state-run Sudan News Agency that an unspecified number of soldiers had been killed in the attack. | |
The 20-year north-south civil war, separate from the Darfur conflict, was said to have cost 1.5 million lives. | The 20-year north-south civil war, separate from the Darfur conflict, was said to have cost 1.5 million lives. |
Under the 2005 peace deal, the SPLA joined a government of national unity. | Under the 2005 peace deal, the SPLA joined a government of national unity. |
As part of the deal, nationwide elections are due to take place next year, to be followed in 2011 by a referendum on whether the south should secede. |