Freelance journalist Hannah McNeish describes the bombing raid near Bentiu, South Sudan
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Sudan's bombardment of a border area in South Sudan.
Mr Ban called on "the government of Sudan to cease all
hostilities immediately", saying there could be no no military solution"
to the two countries' simmering border dispute.
On Monday Sudanese warplanes dropped bombs near the South Sudanese town of Bentiu, witnesses said.
Earlier, Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir ruled out talks with South Sudan.
Mr Bashir was speaking while visiting the oil field and
border town of Heglig, which South Sudanese troops had occupied for
nearly two weeks
.
South Sudan says its forces withdrew from Heglig, but Sudan says it expelled them, killing 1,000 soldiers.
"We will not negotiate with the South's government, because
they don't understand anything but the language of the gun and
ammunition," Reuters news agency quoted Mr Bashir as telling troops on
his arrival in Heglig.
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First came the throbbing noise of a jet engine. Then the dull thump of one, then several, explosions.
People ran into sturdy buildings. Others, cooler, sauntered into the shade, sure this was not their time to die. From all over Bentiu came the irregular chatter of small arms fire, as soldiers and men in uniform tried to take out the warplane.
The men continued to fire for some time after the sky was clear. It was a futile, one-way conversation. But the jets did not achieve their aim either - the bridge that links Bentiu to Rubkona, and then the oil fields and the disputed border from the north, is still intact.
As on several previous failed attempts, civilians suffered from the bridge's good fortune. At least one was killed, his body a grotesque, mangled lump, in Rubkona market. It is far enough from the bridge for everyone here to believe this was a deliberate attempt to target civilians.
At the scene
People ran into sturdy buildings. Others, cooler, sauntered into the shade, sure this was not their time to die. From all over Bentiu came the irregular chatter of small arms fire, as soldiers and men in uniform tried to take out the warplane.
The men continued to fire for some time after the sky was clear. It was a futile, one-way conversation. But the jets did not achieve their aim either - the bridge that links Bentiu to Rubkona, and then the oil fields and the disputed border from the north, is still intact.
As on several previous failed attempts, civilians suffered from the bridge's good fortune. At least one was killed, his body a grotesque, mangled lump, in Rubkona market. It is far enough from the bridge for everyone here to believe this was a deliberate attempt to target civilians.
The past few months have seen
sporadic fighting in the oil-rich areas along the two countries'
undemarcated border, prompting concern the violence could escalate into a
full-blown war.
Mr Ban called on Mr Bashir and South Sudanese President Salva
Kiir "to stop the slide toward further confrontation and... to return
to dialogue as a matter of urgency".
US President Barack Obama has said both countries "must have
the courage" to return to the negotiating table and resolve their
differences peacefully.
However, Sudan's ambassador to the UN Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali
Osman accused the South of "aggression" and said his country had the
right to defend itself.
"We have been targeted by... the South. We have every right
to militarily repel that attack and aggression," Mr Osman told the BBC's
World Today programme.
"Let me make it clear: we will not cross the international border and attack the south... inside their territories," he added.
'Declaration of war'
Sudan's military commander Kamal Marouf said that 1,000
southern soldiers had been killed during the fighting for Heglig,
reports the AFP news agency, whose correspondent saw an "uncountable"
number of dead bodies wearing South Sudanese military uniforms.
But these casualty figures were rejected by South Sudan's
Information Minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, who told the BBC's Focus
on Africa programme that "not even a single SPLA soldier have they
killed".
Bentiu residents ran for their lives during the air raid
The air raid by Sudanese forces on the South Sudanese border town of Bentiu killed at least one person, according to witnesses.
Taban Deng, governor of Unity state, said the bombs fell on a
key bridge, which leads to the border, and a market between the state
capital Bentiu and the nearby town of Rubkona.
The witnesses described seeing a huge plume of smoke rising from a market and the body of a dead boy.
Mr Deng said that three civilians had also been critically wounded in the raid and were not expected to survive.
South Sudan's deputy head of intelligence, Mac Paul,
described the bombing as a "declaration of war", according to the
Associated Press.
China visit
The UN Security Council demanded that South Sudan withdraw its
forces from Heglig and the neighbouring Abyei regions, as well as a
"complete, immediate, unconditional" end to all fighting.
It also called on Sudan to stop aerial bombing raids on South Sudanese territory.
On Sunday, South Sudan's army said its withdrawal from the area was complete.
Continue reading the main story
Main disputes between the two Sudans
- Transit fees the South should pay Sudan to use its oil pipelines
- Demarcating the border
- Both sides claim Abyei
- The rights of each other's citizens now in a foreign country - there are estimated to be 500,000 southerners in Sudan and 80,000 Sudanese in the South
- Each accuses the other of supporting rebel groups on its territory
Satellite pictures of the Heglig
area released on Sunday suggest key oil installations were badly damaged
in the fighting and are no longer operating.
Meanwhile, South Sudan's President Kiir has arrived in China
for a six-day visit during which he will meet his Chinese counterpart,
Hu Jintao.
China has traditionally been an ally of
diplomatically-isolated Sudan, but observers say Chinese officials are
likely to push for an end to hostilities between the two countries.
The former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)
has governed South Sudan since it seceded from Sudan after an
overwhelming vote in favour of independence in a July 2011 referendum.
The vote was the outcome of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace
Agreement, which put an end to the 22-year civil war between the former
north and south of Sudan. About 1.5 million people are though to have
lost their lives in the conflict.
The new state took most of the former united Sudan's oil
reserves with it, but relies on pipelines to seaports in Sudan to export
it.
In January, South Sudan decided to shut down oil production,
which provides 98% of the government's revenue, after Khartoum impounded
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