Malakal, on the River Nile, is seen as a potential north-south flashpoint Sunday, February 6, 2011
Deadly clash between Sudan troops
Malakal, on the River Nile, is seen as a potential north-south flashpoint At least 13 people, including two children, have been killed in clashes between soldiers in the volatile south Sudan town of Malakal, doctors say.
Battles broke out on Thursday between rival northern troops, some of whom want to stay in the south. Malakal has previously seen north-south clashes.
The fighting comes as Southern Sudan is waiting for confirmation of the result of its independence referendum.
Provisional results say 99% of voters opted to secede from the north.
The vast majority of casualties seen in the hospital are civilians, caught in the battle which officials say has included heavy weapons such as mortars.
But more are feared dead in the areas of heaviest fighting, which doctors have not yet been able to access.
The fighting began when southerners who joined the northern army did not want to move, Upper Nile state spokesman Bartholomew Pakwan Abwol told the Reuters news agency.
"They think they will have no rights in the north," he said.
Another of the dead was a United Nations driver caught in crossfire, a UN spokesman said.
The southern army, the SPLA, has not become involved in the fighting.
It has previously clashed with northern militia in the town on the River Nile, leaving hundreds dead in 2006 and 2009.
It is still seen as one of the potential flashpoints along the north-south border.
Southern Sudan is set to become the world's newest nation on 9 July 2011.
Its referendum was part of a deal to end decades of conflicts between north and south, driven by religious and ethnic divides.
Sudan: A country divided
Geography Ethnic groups Infant mortality Water & sanitation Education Food insecurity Oil fields
Show regions
The great divide across Sudan is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. Southern Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.
Sudan's arid northern regions are home mainly to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in Southern Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own traditional beliefs and languages.
The health inequalities in Sudan are illustrated by infant mortality rates. In Southern Sudan, one in 10 children die before their first birthday. Whereas in the more developed northern states, such as Gezira and White Nile, half of those children would be expected to survive.
The gulf in water resources between north and south is stark. In Khartoum, River Nile, and Gezira states, two-thirds of people have access to piped drinking water and pit latrines. In the south, boreholes and unprotected wells are the main drinking sources. More than 80% of southerners have no toilet facilities whatsoever.
Throughout Sudan, access to primary school education is strongly linked to household earnings. In the poorest parts of the south, less than 1% of children finish primary school. Whereas in the wealthier north, up to 50% of children complete primary level education.
Conflict and poverty are the main causes of food insecurity in Sudan. The residents of war-affected Darfur and Southern Sudan are still greatly dependent on food aid. Far more than in northern states, which tend to be wealthier, more urbanised and less reliant on agriculture.
Sudan exports billions of dollars of oil per year. Southern states produce more than 80% of it, but receive only 50% of the revenue, exacerbating tensions with the north. The oil-rich border region of Abyei is to hold a separate vote on whether to join the north or the south.
This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-africa-12368831
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