JUBA, Sudan, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- At least 16 people were killed Thursday after rebels attacked south Sudan's army as the region prepares to secede from the north, a military official said.
Forces loyal to former Sudan People's Liberation Army Lt. Gen. George Athor blew up two army trucks near the town of Fangak in Jonglei state, a southern military spokesman said.
Athor took up arms last year, alleging fraud in state elections, but signed a cease-fire last month.
He is now leading a rebellion against the SPLA from his base in south Sudan's large Jonglei state, officials said.
Four soldiers and 12 rebels were killed in the latest clash, army spokesman Philip Aguer told the BBC, adding many more may be dead.
"We are still waiting for full details of the casualties," he said.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said Monday his government had accepted the south's choice to separate from the north, as 98.83 percent of the more than 3.8 million registered voters chose to separate.
Sudan has endured two long and brutal civil wars between the Arab north and the Christian and animist south since gaining independence from Egypt and Britain in 1956.
The country just south of Egypt was seized in 1989 in a bloodless coup by Bashir, a colonel who then proclaimed himself president.
The country's second civil war ended with the 2005 signing of a peace agreement, which granted autonomy to the south and set the stage for last month's referendum.
Southern Sudan is to become independent July 9.
