South Sudan Accuses Khartoum of Air Attacks - New York Times

NAIROBI, Kenya — Sudan attacked South Sudan with warplanes and ground troops, only days after Sudan said its military had forced the south’s forces out of a contested oil-rich region, South Sudan said on Monday.

South Sudan said last week that it had withdrawn from the Heglig region in response to international pressure to stave off all-out war.

But an aerial bombardment and ground assault by Sudanese armed forces on Sunday and Monday past Heglig and into South Sudan, according to a South Sudanese official, indicated that fighting between the two nations may not be over, and echoed statements made by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bahir last week that Khartoum would drive the “insects” from the south from power.

On Monday, a South Sudanese spokesman said Sudan had been bombing South Sudan, including the regional capital of Bentiu — a target of previous air assaults — and that South Sudan had repulsed Sudanese forces on the ground Sunday in the area of Tashwin.

Sudanese military and government spokesmen could not be reached for comment.

The United States, the United Nations and the African Union all condemned South Sudan for sending troops into Heglig this month and bringing the two countries to the brink of war. But South Sudan, which calls the area Pantho, said it considered the area part of the south.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international organization, ruled in 2009 that Heglig was outside the borders of the contested area of Abyei that lies between Sudan and South Sudan, and thus belonged to the government in Khartoum.

“Since yesterday and today, they have been bombing,” the South Sudanese information minister, Barnaba Benjamin Marial, said Monday. “There has also been a ground attack on our positions and we have the right to react.”

Mr. Marial said causalities had been reported but that a figure could not yet be confirmed.

News agencies reported between one and three deaths as a result of the air attacks.

Sudan and South Sudan have been at loggerheads over how to share oil — largely found in South Sudanese territory but pumped northward through Sudan for export — since South Sudan broke away from Sudan last year.

Then, earlier this month, tensions exploded when South Sudan captured Heglig from Sudan.

Mr. Marial said Monday that South Sudan had completely withdrawn from the Heglig, and that the withdrawal was voluntary, but news reports along the border region suggested that Sudan’s bombardment may have forced South Sudan from the area.

On Monday, a satellite-imagery monitoring project published images it claims shows Sudanese jet fighters perched along the Sudan-South Sudan border, as well as evidence of looting by South Sudanese. It also said it showed evidence of the destruction of oil facilities in Heglig, which are said to provide Sudan with roughly half of its oil.

In a fiery speech last week, President Bashir claimed victory over South Sudan in Heglig, labeling southerners “insects.” In earlier speeches, Mr. Bashir spoke of “occupying” the South Sudanese capital of Juba and seeking to topple the South Sudanese government.

Mr. Bashir also said Sudan would not allow South Sudan to use Sudan’s oil pipelines to export oil.