New Violence Erupts in South Sudan

105 Killed in Clashes Between Rebels, South Sudan’s Army

VoA News: South Sudan's army says clashes between its troops and rebels in recent days have killed 105 people, including of fighters and civilians.

An army spokesman says the clashes took place Wednesday and Thursday in the town of Fangak in Jonglei state. He says fighting began after rebels led by renegade commander George Athor attacked troops from the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army.

The army says the victims included troops on both sides and 39 civilians.

The deaths added to the earlier toll of 16 people who were killed in fighting between southern troops and rebels in the nearby town of Door.

The violence follows confirmation that south Sudan would become the world's newest country.

On Monday, official results of last month's referendum on south Sudanese independence were made public. They showed nearly 99 percent of those who participated in the poll favored independence from the north.

Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, accepted the referendum's outcome, which means the southern part of Sudan will become a new nation in July.

The referendum stemmed from the 2005 peace accord between the mainly Muslim north and the largely Christian south that ended a two-decade civil war.

The two sides must still resolve issues before July's official secession, including deciding who controls the important oil-producing Abyei region, which straddles the north-south border.