Clashes reported in border area

Sudan’s former southern rebels accused their northern partners of attacking them for the second time in a week in clashes that claimed dozens of lives in the volatile north-south border region.

A 2005 peace deal ended Africa’s longest civil war in Sudan’s south, but both sides accuse the other of violations.

A southern spokesman said 28 civilians were killed. Sudan’s armed forces denied any role and said the clash was between the southerners and members of a nomadic tribe. Clashes earlier last week in the remote area also killed dozens.

Sudan’s north-south civil war claimed 2 million lives and drove 4 million from their homes. It has been largely overshadowed by a newer conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region.