KHARTOUM - Sudan's army fought rebels in the oil-producing state of South Kordofan last week, both sides said on Saturday.
The rebels said they had killed nine government troops, but the army denied this.Fighting has taken place since last June in South Kordofan between the Sudanese army and rebels from the northern wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, who want to topple the Khartoum government.
Clashes spread to neighboring Blue Nile state, which also borders newly independent South Sudan, in September.
The violence has already forced about 417,000 people to flee their homes, more than 80,000 of them to South Sudan, the United Nations estimates.
