Further violence on Sudan border

Northern Sudanese forces say 22 soldiers were injured in an ambush in Abyei by southern troops.

A bridge linking Sudan’s disputed Abyei border region to the south of the country was nearly hit in an aerial bombardment, the UN has said.

It came as local officials reported hearing artillery fire north of the town of Abyei, and a day after a UN peacekeeping convoy came under attack.

The peacekeepers were escorting northern troops out of Abyei.

Observers warn the escalating situation in the oil-producing Abyei region risks igniting a new north-south civil war.

South Sudan is due to become independent in July, but disagreement remains over Abyei, which is claimed by both.

The BBC’s James Copnall in Khartoum says the precise details of Friday’s fighting are not yet clear.

Abyei’s chief administrator, Deng Arop Kuol, told the BBC that artillery fire and possible aerial bombardments could be heard north of the town of Abyei.

The UN said it was investigating the reports, also made by senior paramount chief of the Dinka Ngok, an indigenous southern ethnic group.

The UN confirmed that the bridge linking Abyei to the south had come under attack either from missiles or bombs launched from an aircraft, without giving further details.

The incidents indicate the situation in Abyei has degenerated seriously, our reporter says.

On Thursday, the northern army claimed it had lost 22 soldiers after an alleged ambush on the UN convoy by southern troops.

South Sudanese forces accept the clash occurred but said they had been returning northern fire.

The UN described the incident as “a criminal attack”.

UN officials were unable to confirm Thursday’s death toll or the identity of the attackers, but said the incident took place in an area under the control of southern police.

The violence comes ahead of a planned UN Security Council visit to the area on Monday. The timing of these two days of trouble is curious. A deal had been signed to improve security, and the UN Security Council plans to visit on Monday.

There are several possible scenarios. The worst, but perhaps least likely, is that this is the start of a new north-south civil war. Another is that localised fighting will carve out a new reality on the ground in Abyei – but not drag in the north and the south.

It could also simply be another bit of macabre jostling for position, with the Security Council on its way and north-south talks continuing in Ethiopia.

But Thursday’s direct clash between northern and southern troops does push the region closer to its nightmare scenario. Abyei will be under intense scrutiny in the next few days.

Our correspondent says that although there have been a series of battles around Abyei, direct clashes between northern and southern armed forces have been rare.

Most fighting in the area has been between the Dinka Ngok and the Misseriya, northern nomads who spend part of every year there seeking pastures for their cattle.

Both groups have accused the other side of receiving help from uniformed officials.

In January, the residents of South Sudan voted in a referendum to secede from the north.

A draft version of South Sudan’s interim constitution explicitly claims Abyei is in the south.

President Omar al-Bashir has threatened not to recognise the new state if it tries to claim Abyei.

The Abyei region was meant to have its own referendum on whether to join the north or the south in January, but agreement could not be reached on whether the Misseriya could vote.

The great divide across Sudan is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. Southern Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.

Sudan’s arid northern regions are home mainly to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in Southern Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own traditional beliefs and languages.

The health inequalities in Sudan are illustrated by infant mortality rates. In Southern Sudan, one in 10 children die before their first birthday. Whereas in the more developed northern states, such as Gezira and White Nile, half of those children would be expected to survive.

The gulf in water resources between north and south is stark. In Khartoum, River Nile, and Gezira states, two-thirds of people have access to piped drinking water and pit latrines. In the south, boreholes and unprotected wells are the main drinking sources. More than 80% of southerners have no toilet facilities whatsoever.

Throughout Sudan, access to primary school education is strongly linked to household earnings. In the poorest parts of the south, less than 1% of children finish primary school. Whereas in the wealthier north, up to 50% of children complete primary level education.

Conflict and poverty are the main causes of food insecurity in Sudan. The residents of war-affected Darfur and Southern Sudan are still greatly dependent on food aid. Far more than in northern states, which tend to be wealthier, more urbanised and less reliant on agriculture.

Sudan exports billions of dollars of oil per year. Southern states produce more than 80% of it, but receive only 50% of the revenue, exacerbating tensions with the north. The oil-rich border region of Abyei is to hold a separate vote on whether to join the north or the south.

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