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The clashes with the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, came just days after South Sudan accused Sudan of bombing its oil-rich state of Unity, underscoring heightening tension along their poorly marked border. German Troops to Train Malian Army Sudanese military spokesman Colonel Al-Sawarmi Khalid said the rebels were backed by tanks and artillery. At least 66 rebels were killed in the battle, which left dozens of others injured, he said. Sudanese forces suffered minor casualties, before driving the rebels from the densely populated area, he added.
SPLM-N rebels fought alongside the South Sudan army during the two-decade civil war with Sudan. South Sudan says it has severed ties with the SPLM-N, although Khartoum insists its newly independent neighbor still backs the rebels.
Col. Philip Aguer, the South Sudan military spokesman, dismissed the Sudanese accusations. "The hard-liners in Khartoum are continuing with those unending false accusations to justify attacks against our territory," he said.
A deal over border security between Sudan and South Sudan was signed in September but hasn't been implemented. In December, Sudan asked South Sudan to disarm the SPLM-N as a condition for resuming crude-oil shipments. South Sudan says the demand is unrealistic.
The dispute between the civil war foes has prevented the resumption of 350,000 barrels a day of South Sudanese oil shipments through Sudan for more than a year. Last week, the Belgium-based International Crisis Group said in a report that the SPLM-N conflict with Sudan shows no sign of ending soon. "The conflict shows every sign of strategic stalemate, with each side hoping pressure from elsewhere will change its foe's calculations," the group said. "All indications suggest the conflict has settled into a vicious deadlock in which Khartoum is unable to dislodge the rebels ensconced in the Nuba Mountains, and the SPLM-N and its allies are incapable of holding much territory in the lowlands."
The SPLM-N rebels say they are fighting to topple the Khartoum regime, which they accuse the Sudanese of, among other things, land dispossession and unimplemented promises contained in the 2005 comprehensive peace agreement. | 
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