Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has ordered the stoppage of oil transfers through Sudanese territory from South Sudan, saying the government of President Salva Kiir is supporting rebels in Sudan.

"Bashir ordered the minister of oil to stop the flow of South Sudanese oil from tomorrow, Sunday," Sudan’s state media reported on Saturday.

"Sudan will not allow revenues from oil exports from South Sudan to be used to support rebels and mercenaries against Sudan," Bashir said, according to the SUNA state news agency.


Bashir also urged the Sudanese youth to join the army and prepare for holy war.

"Bashir called on the youth to join the holy war and ordered the opening of army barracks and popular defense force camps from tomorrow," SUNA added.

On May 26, the Sudanese army clashed with an armed group of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) in the Dandor area of South Kordofan. Khartoum says the government in Juba supports the SRF, but South Sudan denies the allegations.

In March, Sudan and South Sudan struck a deal to resume the flow of southern oil exports through pipelines in the north. The pipelines, which are South Sudan's only route to international market, carry oil from the landlocked South through Sudan to a port on the Red Sea.

Two neighbors also agreed to withdraw their troops from contested border areas to ease tensions and facilitate the resumption of oil exports.

At the end of last month, Bashir warned that he would order the stoppage of oil transfers if the government of President Kiir provides assistance to the rebels fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, or in the Darfur region.

The Sudanese president threatened to completely close the pipelines, saying that "we will know if they stop the assistance, and we will know if they assist them."

In January 2012, South Sudan stopped its oil production following tensions over transit fees and disputed territory.

South Sudan seceded from the Republic of Sudan on July 9, 2011, after decades of conflict with Khartoum. The new oil-rich nation is one of the least developed countries in the world, with one in seven children dying before the age of five.