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press tv
North Sudanese troops have seized the Abyei town along Sudan's contested north-south border after clashes with forces of South Sudan.

The state television of North Sudan reported on Saturday that the northern forces took control of the city and repelled “enemy forces” from the south, Reuters reported.

The United Nations said North Sudan's army had deployed 15 tanks alone in one area in Abyei town, where gunshots could be heard until fighting appeared to subside for the night.

South Sudan's army also confirmed that “Abyei town is now under control of the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces)” -- North Sudan's army.

In a landmark referendum in January, the South Sudanese went to the polls to secede from the North. South Sudan's independence referendum was the result of a peace agreement in 2005, brokered by the African Union and the United Nations that ended decades of civil war between North and South Sudan.

The fate of the disputed area is the main outstanding issue between North and South Sudan.

The US and the European Union had campaigned for years to split the major African country, voicing support for the secession of the oil-rich South.