Sudan bombs South

Juba. — Sudanese warplanes have bombed South Sudan, wounding six civilians in areas bordering war zone regions where Khartoum is trying to crush rebel fighters, reports said on Friday. Claims of fresh bombing raids raises tensions between the former civil war foes, but also comes as Sudan’s government holds peace talks with rebels.

South Sudan army spokesman Philip Aguer told the independent Radio Tamazuj that bombs were dropped on Wednesday in the Maban district of Upper Nile state, which hosts over 125 000 refugees who fled from fighting in neighbouring Sudan’s Blue Nile state.

There was no immediate response from Sudan’s army to AFP inquiries.

Khartoum officials are meeting in Ethiopia with rebels from war-torn Blue Nile and South Kordofan, with African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki calling for an “urgent” ceasefire.

Earlier this month the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan agreed to restart work to demarcate their contested border, a dispute that boiled over into war between the countries in 2012.

South Sudan split from the north in 2011 following a peace agreement ending decades of civil war, and the two remain at odds over unresolved issues from the secession, including the frontier. — AFP.