Sudan president visits disputed oil-rich town along border as planes bomb in South Sudan
Posted April 23, 2012 10:03 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has arrived in the oil-rich disputed border town that has sparked a surge in violence with South Sudan and drawn the two closer to full-scale war.
Al-Bashir’s visit Monday to Heglig follows claims that his forces liberated the town from Southern Sudanese troops. But officials in South Sudan said they pulled out to avoid escalation.
The official Sudanese news agency said al-Bashir will inspect the damage in the town.
Fighting along the north-south border has been near constant since April. But it intensified when southern forces captured the Heglig region. Al-Bashir has vowed to teach his southern neighbours a lesson.
Al-Bashir’s forces bombed a major town inside South Sudan Monday.
