20120801
AFP
Rebels in Sudan's South Kordofan state bordering South Sudan said Tuesday that 17 government troops have been killed during the latest fighting, ahead of a UN deadline for the Sudans to make peace.

Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting insurgents from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a charge which analysts believe despite denials by the government in Juba.

The SPLM-N charged that six civilians were killed in an attack against villages by Khartoum government forces on Sunday before rebels battled the army, leaving the 17 soldiers dead.

The violence occurred in the Al-Abbasiya district of northeastern South Kordofan, an SPLM-N statement said.

Sudan's military spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Access to South Kordofan is severely restricted, making independent verification of the claims difficult.

About 200,000 refugees have fled a worsening humanitarian situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since fighting between government and rebel forces began in June last year, the United Nations says.

Ethnic minority insurgents of the SPLM-N fought alongside southern rebels during Sudan's 22-year civil war, which ended in a 2005 peace deal and South Sudan's independence in July last year.

Critical issues were unresolved by the separation, and tensions between the neighbours escalated into a March-April war along their undemarcated border.

The UN Security Council ordered a ceasefire under a May resolution that gave Sudan and South Sudan until this Thursday to settle key differences.

The UN also told both sides to stop supporting each other's rebels.

African Union-led peace talks have been taking place in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa but no comprehensive accord is expected by the deadline, leaving Sudan and South Sudan open to potential sanctions.

Following US calls for the two sides to act on the deadline, Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant urged Sudan's Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir to show the "statesmanship" needed to overcome their differences.

Bashir could not attend a mooted summit with Kiir this week because of a scheduled visit to Qatar, but Sudan "accepts in principle" the holding of a summit later, Sudanese officials said in statements on the state-run SUNA news agency.