BRUSSELS, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Clashes between rival Sudanese forces in Blue Nile state are becoming part of a worrying trend along the border, a European official said.
The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton in a statement Tuesday expressed deep concern over reports of fighting between rival Sudanese forces in Blue Nile state.
"These clashes represent a dangerous escalation of the conflict in South Kordofan state which has been going on since June 5, amidst reports of serious human rights violations and continuing lack of humanitarian access," she said.
Human rights groups, as well as the United Nations, said there is evidence to suggest violence in South Kordofan is ethnically motivated.
Ashton called on both sides to find a peaceful way to end the violence along South Sudan's northern border.
South Sudan became an independent nation in July. Independence came through a 2005 peace deal that ended Sudan's 20-year civil war.
Valerie Amos, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said border conflicts in Sudan had reached a "critical" stage. Meanwhile, Antonio Guterres, the head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, in a weekend statement said it was time for the fighting to stop.
"We need, at all costs, to stop yet one more refugee crisis in a region of the world that has been witnessing in recent months so much suffering," he said.
