South Sudan president says Sudan has ‘declared war’ after Sudanese jets drop bombs on S. Sudan

(Alexander F. Yuan/ Associated Press ) - South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, right, reviews honor guard with Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 24, 2012.

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By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, April 24, 6:57 PM

NAIROBI, Kenya — South Sudan’s president said its northern neighbor has “declared war” on the world’s newest nation, just hours after Sudanese jets dropped eight bombs on his country.
President Salva Kiir’s comments, made Tuesday during a trip to China, signal a rise in rhetoric between the rival nations, who spent decades at war with each other. Neither side has officially declared war.

Sudan and South Sudan have been drawing closer to a full-scale war in recent weeks over the unresolved issues of oil revenues and their disputed border. The violence has drawn alarm and condemnation from the international community, including from U.S. President Barack Obama.
South Sudan won independence from Sudan last year as part of a 2005 peace treaty that ended decades of war that killed 2 million people
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The U.N. Security Council was briefed on the situation late Tuesday and members demanded “an immediate halt to aerial bombardments by the Sudanese armed forces and urged an immediate cease-fire and return to the negotiating table,” Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the current council president, told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir gave a fiery speech last week in which he said there will be no negotiations with the “poisonous insects” who are challenging Sudan’s claim to disputed territory near the border.
Kiir, the southern president, arrived in China late Monday for a five-day visit to lobby for economic and diplomatic support. China’s energy needs make it deeply vested in the future of the two Sudans. Beijing is uniquely positioned to exert influence in the conflict, given its deep trade ties to the resource-rich south and decades-long diplomatic ties with Sudan’s government in the north.
Kiir told Chinese President Hu Jintao the visit comes at a “a very critical moment for the Republic of South Sudan because our neighbor in Khartoum has declared war on the Republic of South Sudan.”
South Sudan’s military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said that Sudanese Antonov warplanes dropped eight bombs overnight in Panakuac, where he said there was ground fighting on Monday. Aguer said he did not know how many people were killed in the attack because of poor communication links with the remote area.
On Monday, Sudanese warplanes bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan, killing at least two people, after Sudanese ground forces reportedly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery.
The U.N. Mission in South Sudan confirmed that at least 16 civilians in South Sudan were killed and 34 injured in bombings by Sudanese aircraft in Unity State, ambassador Rice told reporters. She said the mission reported that the bombings also caused significant damage to infrastructure.
Talks over oil revenue and the border issues broke down this month after violence flared. South Sudan invaded the oil-rich border town of Heglig, which Sudan claims it controls.
Following international pressure, South Sudan announced that it withdrew all its soldiers from Heglig. Sudan claimed its troops forced them out.