JUBA, South Sudan, April 3 (UPI) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday it was working to cope with combatants wounded in fighting in South Sudan and Sudan.
The ICRC said it performed emergency surgery on nine combatants injured during recent fighting in the region.
"Local healthcare facilities were struggling to cope with the influx of the wounded from recent clashes, so an emergency surgical team was sent to Bentiu Hospital (in South Sudan's state of Unity) to perform essential surgery," ICRC's senior surgeon Dr. Tesfaye Feleke said in a statement.
"The men we treated suffered mainly from gunshot injuries and required surgery to the head, chest and extremities."
Both parties to the conflict in the region had agreed to talks this week, though violence continued in border areas separating the two countries.
The independent Sudan Tribune reports more than 400 people were displaced during recent fighting and about 80 people were hospitalized in Unity state and the main hospital in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke Monday with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir to express concern about the border clashes.
"President Obama underscored the importance of avoiding unilateral actions, and asked President Kiir to ensure that South Sudan's military exercises maximum restraint and is not involved in or supporting fighting along the border, particularly in South Kordofan," a White House statement read.
