By IANS,
Khartoum : At least 22 soldiers were killed by former south rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in the disputed area of Abyei, the Sudanese Army said Friday while announcing the oil producing area a “war zone”, Xinhua reported.
A Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) contingent was ambushed Thursday by SPLA forces seven kilometres north of Abyei town in the Abyei area located on the border between north and south Sudan, which was claimed by both sides, said an SAF spokesman during a press conference Friday.
“The SAF force comprised of 200 soldiers, 22 of them were killed, nine injured, eight managed to reach the adjacent areas to Abyei and the rest are still missing,” he said.
Early this month, the Abyei area witnessed violent clashes between the SAF and the southern Sudanese forces that resulted in killing of 14 persons, according to the UN.
Violence has aggravated in Abyei since the south Sudan referendum on Jan. 9, 2011 which resulted in separation of south Sudan.