JUBA, South Sudan, March 27 (UPI) -- Leaders in Sudan and South Sudan are called on to find a peaceful way to settle their differences, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
The independent Sudan Tribune reports a "mini-war" broke out along the border between Sudan and South Sudan. It notes the Sudanese military bombed an oil field in Unity state in South Sudan on Tuesday after fighting broke out the day before.
Ban, in a statement issued through his spokesman's office, urged "the parties to utilize to the fullest extent existing political and security mechanisms to peacefully address their differences."
Clashes erupted Monday between members of the Sudanese military and the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army. A reporter from the newspaper said he witnessed Sudanese forces dropping bombs on a South Sudanese oil field Tuesday morning.
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir said his military was provoked by northern forces. His country gained independence in July as part of a comprehensive peace agreement that ended a brutal civil war.
Since independence, ethnic conflict, border disputes and clashes over oil have threatened to unravel the peace agreement.
Sudanese President Omar Bashir announced he canceled a trip to South Sudan planned for April because of the conflict.
