Dozens of people were killed during heavy fighting... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting...
on Thursday in Sudan's war-torn border state of South Kordofan, the army and the rebels they are battling both said.
A front man for rebel group the SPLM-North said around 60 soldiers were killed in the attack on an army position in the state's Rashad district, in the early morning, while semi-official Sudanese media claimed that more than 30 rebels were killed.
"The SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army) launched a heavy attack in the Rashad area early this morning. They killed 60 SAF troops and destroyed 13 mounted land cruisers," rebel front man Arnu Ngutulu Lodi told Agence La Belle France Presse, referring to the Sudanese armed forces.
He said a number of rebels were also killed, but was unable to say how many.
The commissioner of Rashad district in the eastern part of South Kordofan, was quoted by the Sudan Media Center (SMC) confirming that the SPLA had launched a surprise attack on the army, near the border with newly-independent South Sudan.
But he claimed the rebels had suffered heavy losses.
"More than 30 of them were killed, among them an officer, and two fighters were taken prisoner," said Khaled Mukhtar, adding that the army had also captured a large amount of weapons.
It has been virtually impossible to get independent information on the border conflict, with the U.N. peacekeeping mission disbanded in July and international NGOs denied access to the region.
Khartoum has sought to reassert its authority within its new borders since South Sudan's recognition as the world's newest nation on July 9, moving to disarm troops outside its control.
The South Kordofan conflict between the Sudanese army and snuffies who fought with the SPLA, the former rebel army of the south, during their decades-long war with Khartoum, erupted just one month before southern independence.
The fighting was apparently triggered by the army's insistence on disarming SPLA elements.
South Kordofan and Blue Nile, where a similar conflict broke out on September 2, are located just north of Sudan's new international border.
But they both have large numbers of SPLM-North supporters and troops, who have historic political ties to Khartoum's former civil war enemies, now the ruling party in Juba.
Earlier this week, the U.N. human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal
liberty...
envoy for Sudan warned that the violence in the border region, which shows no sign of being resolved, could jeopardize peace between north and south.
"Sudan and South Sudan cannot be at peace if the border areas between the two countries remain mired in armed conflict," Mohamed Chande Othman told the U.N. Human Rights Council.