20120424
AFP
Waving guns in the air, South Sudanese soldiers in the border state of Unity sing revolutionary songs about decades of war with Sudan, warning they are ready for a new one if need be.

"We will even kill our brothers" if they are not loyal to the South, soldiers from the world's youngest nation sing, apparently upbeat despite weeks of battling Sudanese troops along their bitterly contested border.

Southern troops seized the disputed Heglig oil field from Khartoum's army on April 10, but pulled out at the weekend after international pressure, with Sudanese troops and warplanes continuing to attack as the South withdrew.

Away from the songs of victory, at the military hospital in Bentiu, capital of the South's oil-rich Unity state, wounded soldiers are sprawled outside on mats recovering from the frontline fighting.

"They were coming in large numbers," said soldier Samuel Bol, shot in the hand by Sudanese soldiers advancing on motorcycles, as Southern troops began withdrawing from Heglig on Friday.

Sudanese fighter jets and Antonov warplanes strafed and bombed in front and behind Bol as he withdrew with his comrades, wounding several, he added.

Putrified corpses litter the Heglig oil field, now held by Sudanese troops, and which Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited on Monday for a victory celebration dressed in military uniform.

Last week, Bashir called the Southern government an "insect" he wanted to crush.

The withdrawal has not brought the hoped for easing of tensions, and fighting has not stopped. On Monday morning, Sudanese warplanes dropped bombs on Bentiu, killing at least two civilians and wounding several others.

As Southern reinforcements arrived in border regions, Bol said that Khartoum had boosted its troops and allied militia to a "larger and larger number."

Yet close to the frontline, the situation is strangely quiet, despite reports from both Sudan and the South of heavy clashes.

One week ago, the roads here were packed with zooming pickup trucks -- many mounted with machine guns and packed with Southern soldiers -- as they raced towards the frontline in Heglig.

On Monday however, Southern troops are digging into positions and bolstering defences along the contested border.

At one army camp, some 30 kilometres (25 miles) from the border, a young soldier strikes a pose as he proudly pulls at the lapels of a woolen Sudanese army coat he wears in the scorching midday heat.

"I only took this, and some artilleries (ammunition) to fight the enemy with," he says, a cigarette drooping from his mouth as he swaggers around the base.

Groups of soldiers wait in the shade, surrounded by bundles of boots, mattresses and guns. Nearby, a small bomb crater littered with shards of shrapnel show where Sudan's bombers have attacked.

"They are fresh forces, and they can go and fight" if needed, said Southern captain Kuer Juach Atem, gesturing towards the soldiers.

But the continuation of fighting despite the withdrawal from Heglig has sparked anger in Bentiu, where people say they worry of a wider war.

"I'm fearing that even if we give them Heglig, there will still be a war," said shopkeeper Suleiman Ibrahim Ali. "I'm not alone -- everyone is fearing the Antonov (warplanes)."

"We cannot deny what the international community tell us -- we're a small country, we have no power," said student Peter Riek. "Even when we stop the war, they are coming here to bomb."