(Newser)
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Violence is coursing through Sudan once more, after South Sudanese troops took over an oil-rich border town last week. Sudan reportedly killed five civilians in air attacks on the disputed town of Heglig yesterday; today it began shelling the area, a spokesman for the South tells the AP. Sudan has officially declared the South's government an "enemy" as fighting spreads, the Telegraph reports. "We announce that we will clash with SPLM"—the governing party—"until we end her government of South Sudan," said a Sudanese official.
Some 240 Sudanese and 19 South Sudanese troops were reportedly killed in clashes last week as Southern forces took over Heglig. Now, Khartoum's army is about 14 miles away and advancing toward the city it formerly controlled. Sudan lost some 75% of its oil supplies when the South broke away last year; since then, Heglig has been its main source of oil, though South Sudan doesn't believe the city belongs to the north. Now production there is at a standstill, says a local governor.
