South Sudan president: Sudan has 'declared war' - Boston.com

South Sudan won independence from Sudan last year as part of a 2005 peace treaty that ended decades of war that killed 2 million people.

The U.N. Security Council was briefed on the situation late Tuesday and members demanded “an immediate halt to aerial bombardments by the Sudanese armed forces and urged an immediate cease-fire and return to the negotiating table,’’ Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the current council president, told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir gave a fiery speech last week in which he said there will be no negotiations with the “poisonous insects’’ who are challenging Sudan’s claim to disputed territory near the border.

Kiir, the southern president, arrived in China late Monday for a five-day visit to lobby for economic and diplomatic support. China’s energy needs make it deeply vested in the future of the two Sudans. Beijing is uniquely positioned to exert influence in the conflict, given its deep trade ties to the resource-rich south and decades-long diplomatic ties with Sudan’s government in the north.

Kiir told Chinese President Hu Jintao the visit comes at a “a very critical moment for the Republic of South Sudan because our neighbor in Khartoum has declared war on the Republic of South Sudan.’’

South Sudan’s military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said that Sudanese Antonov warplanes dropped eight bombs overnight in Panakuac, where he said there was ground fighting on Monday. Aguer said he did not know how many people were killed in the attack because of poor communication links with the remote area.

On Monday, Sudanese warplanes bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan, killing at least two people, after Sudanese ground forces reportedly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery.