Sudan's Petroleum Minister Awad Ahmed Al-Jaz said Friday that a pipeline blown up by rebels at Abyei area has been fixed.

"A technical team has fixed the oil pipeline which was blown up by the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)," Al-Jaz said at a press conference here.

"The team has completed transferring the oil from the pipeline to reservoirs to conduct some technical operations prior to resuming oil pumping," the minister added.

Al-Jaz further disclosed that the group which blew up the pipeline comprised three highly-trained people, noting that the incident targets Sudan's economic development.

He said that the blown-up pipeline transports 18,000 barrels a day from three oil fields, and that the government has adopted new precautions to protect the oil industry.

He accused South Sudan of supporting rebel groups which are active against Sudan, noting that the incident was not the first violation and would not be the last.

The Sudanese army on Thursday said a rebel group has blown up an oil pipeline in Ajaja area on the border with South Sudan. The rebel group moved from South Sudan's Unity state into Sudan's Abyei, where Ajaja is located, and blew up the oil pipeline, causing a huge fire, the Sudanese Media Center (SMC) quoted army spokesman Al-Sawarmy Khalid Saad as saying.

The JEM, led by Jibril Ibrahim, rejects to negotiate with the Sudanese government for a peace agreement. The JEM, other Darfur rebel movements and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/ northern sector, have formed the Revolutionary Front Alliance, which aims to topple the government in Khartoum.