Fears over return to war mount after clashes

Juba:  Sudanese warplanes hit South Sudan's oil-rich border region in a third day of violence between the rival states yesterday, as international concern mounted over a return to an all-out war.

Fighting on the ground had reportedly ceased on both sides of the undemarcated border but bodies and destroyed tanks lay strewn in Sudan's contested oil centre of Heglig, the site of bloody battles that began Monday.

Smoke still rose from a residence at the battle scene, said a correspondent who saw three bodies.

"The ground assaults this morning have stopped but they [Sudan] have still been bombing us in the night," said Gideon Gatpan, information minister for the South's Unity state, which borders Heglig and the scene of heavy battles.

"There was bombing in Panakwach, 35km from Bentiu," the state capital, Gatpan said, adding there were no reports of casualties.

Sudanese warplanes on Monday launched air raids on newly independent South Sudan, while the rival armies clashed in battles.

Both sides claim the other started the fighting, the worst since South Sudan declared independence from Khartoum last July after decades of civil war.

The African Union and the UN Security Council have called for an end to the violence, while US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Khartoum bore the responsibility for the renewed hostilities. The pan-African body said yesterday it was deeply concerned at an "escalating security situation" on the border and called for troops to pull back 10km either side of the border.