Hundreds of Sudanese refugees fled heavy fighting in South Sudan

The News International

NAIROBI: Hundreds of Sudanese refugees fled heavy fighting in South Sudan, United Nations officials said on Sunday, warning of “serious concerns” over the presence of armed groups in border camps.
Several Sudanese rebel forces from the civil war regions of South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur have been reported to have used South Sudan’s volatile border regions as rear guard bases.
They are accused of mingling amongst the more than 185,000 Sudanese refugees who have fled into South Sudan, proving to be a major stumbling block in calming tensions and resolving agreements between Khartoum and Juba.
On Saturday, “sustained gunfire” broke out in Yida refugee camp in South Sudan’s Unity state, close to the border with Sudan’s war-torn South Kordofan state, UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesman Tim Irwin said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear who the fighting was between. “Around 600 women and children who fled the area of the fighting were sheltered in two compounds,” Irwin said, adding that local authorities said that at least one policeman was killed and several other were wounded.