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The JEM statement gave no casualty figures but said the insurgents seized vehicles from the army/FILE

Kenya

Sudan army, rebels clash on two fronts

Earlier Thursday, 45 rebels died in fighting with the army after the insurgents attacked east of Kologi in South Kordofan, Saad added.

Casualty claims are difficult to verify with access to both Darfur and South Kordofan restricted.

The fighting comes after Sudan and South Sudan last Tuesday resumed African Union-led talks in Ethiopia to resolve security and other crucial issues.

Sudan and South Sudan fought along their undemarcated frontier in March and April, sparking fears of wider war and leading to a UN Security Council resolution which ordered a ceasefire and the AU talks.

In early August those negotiations led to a breakthrough deal on fees due by Juba for shipping its oil through the north’s pipeline for export. But Sudan says the oil deal will not be implemented unless security issues are settled first.

Khartoum accuses the government in Juba of backing rebels in the north, a charge which analysts believe despite denials by South Sudan’s government, which in turn has accused the north of backing rebels in the South.

US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, on Thursday said Sudan’s refusal to accept a demilitarised zone with South Sudan risks sparking “outright conflict”.

Rice said it was “equally disappointing” that Khartoum refused to implement the oil accord until all differences between the two have been settled.

South Sudan has agreed to an AU map of the demilitarised zone but Khartoum has not. Its opposition has focused on the inclusion of a disputed area south of the Bahr el-Arab/Kiir River.

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The United Kingdom has backed AU and UN calls for Khartoum to accept the map, saying it has no bearing on the line of a permanent border.

South Sudan separated in July last year after a 2005 peace deal ended a 22-year civil war.

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