KHARTOUM, Sudan, June 6 (UPI) -- The United Nations sent land and air patrols to investigate attacks in Sudan's South Kordofan state to determine who was fighting whom, a U.N. spokeswoman said.
Fighting broke out in the state after North Sudan's government rejected a call from the U.N. Security Council to withdraw troops from the disputed oil-rich Abyei region, which it has occupied since May 21, Voice of America reported Monday.
Hua Jiang, public information director for the U.N. mission in Sudan, said the mission sent patrols to verify reports of attacks on two towns in South Kordofan.
"The information I got so far is that there [were] two attacks" during the weekend, including reports of an attack on a police station in the town of Kadugli, Jiang said.
Jiang said the United Nations received conflicting accounts about what may have prompted the clashes. South Kordofan has strong links to South Sudan, which is set to become independent from the north July 9.
"I think in different parts of Sudan there are different reasons for the fighting," she said.
The Sudan Tribune said multiple sources reported tanks and heavy artillery from the Sudan Armed Forces of the Khartoum government were stationed in and around Kadugli.
Last week, the northern Sudanese army demanded that soldiers from the Sudan People's Liberation Army withdraw from South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, which border South Sudan, the Tribune said.
North Sudan's government Saturday rejected a call from the U.N. Security Council to pull its troops out of the disputed Abyei region, saying it was in Sudanese territory, Voice of America said.
Also last week, the Security Council condemned the occupation of Abyei, saying it was a "serious violation" of the 2005 peace accord ending Sudan's north-south civil war.
