Warnings of all-out war in fight over Sudan town

Abyei is an ethnically mixed area claimed by both sides.

The New York Times:

Nairobi, Kenya — The Sudanese Army invaded the flashpoint town of Abyei over the weekend, alarming Western and United Nations diplomats who warned Sunday that it was a provocative act that risked all-out war with the southern Sudanese.

The unresolved status of Abyei, the center of an ethnically mixed, oil-producing area of the same name that straddles northern and southern Sudan and is claimed by both sides, has been the thorniest issue confronting Sudan as it prepares to break into two in July. The southern Sudanese have fought for independence for decades, and in January, nearly 99 percent of the region’s voters approved a split from northern Sudan in an internationally backed referendum.

After an air campaign on Friday, the north’s ground forces staged a full-scale invasion of Abyei on Saturday night, with artillery, dozens of tanks and thousands of soldiers sweeping in from several directions.

Four shells struck a United Nations compound there, and southern Sudan called the invasion “a declaration of war.”

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