| Second Battle of Heglig | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Heglig Crisis | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 South Sudan |  Sudan | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Salva Kiir | Omar al-Bashir | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| unknown | 1,000 soldiers [1] | ||||||||
  Heglig within Sudan. | |||||||||
The Second Battle of Heglig was an armed confrontation of the 2012 South Sudan-Sudan border conflict that broke out on 10 April 2012.
After claiming that Sudan had been harassing its forces from the air and the use of artillery, South Sudan ordered its forces to attack the Sudanese army in the Heglig area in retaliation. [2]
The Sudan People's Liberation Army launched an offensive northwards, claiming they were chasing retreating Sudanese army units that had attacked South Sudanese territory. The forces from Sudan held defensive positions in and around Heglig and clashes ensued when the South Sudanese army reached the area and engaged them. [3]
After a day of fierce clashes, Sudan admitted that they had been defeated by the South's armed forces despite having put up stiff resistance against "Huge, well equipped forces" from South Sudan. [4]
South Sudanese forces began reinforcing their positions in Heglig on 13 April, whilst Sudan continued to mobilise its own forces. According to the South Sudanese government, the frontlines had remained static during the day. [5] Sudanese forces claimed to be advancing on Heglig and that the situation would be dealt with "within hours." [6] A spokesman of the Sudanese government said that its army was on the outskirts of Heglig, while South Sudan's government said that it would defend themselves if attacked. The Sudanese government spokesman also added that South Sudan failed to control "all of South Kordofan state." [7]
Sudanese warplanes bombed Heglig on 15 April, with Southern officials accusing the North of "bombing the central processing facility to rubble". Sudan strongly denied the claims. [8]
On 20 April 2012 the Sudanese armed forces entered Heglig and controlled the oil field The Sudanese army claimed to have killed over 1,000 South Sudanese soldiers at Heglig. [9] The death toll however is impossible to verify but an AFP correspondent in Heglig said the putrid bodies of dead South Sudanese lay beneath trees scattered about the area. He said the number of bodies was so large they were "uncountable". He also said, the corpses bore the South Sudanese flag on their uniforms. Earlier in the occupation one Southern soldier in Bentiu, capital of the South's Unity state, said: "There are so many bodies at the front line, so many dead" that it is impossible to bury them or bring them back. South Sudan denied these claims .
Salva Kiir Mayardit, also known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who has been the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the President of the Government of Southern Sudan, as well as First Vice President of Sudan, from 2005 to 2011. He was named Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLM/A) in 2005, following the death of John Garang.
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Bentiu, also spelled Bantiu, is a city in South Sudan. It is the capital of Unity State.
Heglig, or Panthou, is a small town at the border between the South Kordofan state of Sudan and the Unity State in South Sudan. The entirety of Heglig is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, but administered by Sudan. The area was contested during the Sudanese Civil War. In mid-April 2012, South Sudan's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) captured the Heglig oil field from Sudan. Sudan took it back at the Second Battle of Heglig ten days later.
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The Heglig Crisis was a brief war fought between the countries of Sudan and South Sudan in 2012 over oil-rich regions between South Sudan's Unity and Sudan's South Kordofan states. South Sudan invaded and briefly occupied the small border town of Heglig before being pushed back by the Sudanese army. Small-scale clashes continued until an agreement on borders and natural resources was signed on 26 September, resolving most aspects of the conflict.
The First Battle of Heglig was a military campaign of South Sudan that gave rise to the 2012 South Sudan–Sudan border conflict.
The air campaign of the Heglig Crisis was a military air campaign of the Sudanese Government against the Republic of South Sudan during the Heglig Crisis.
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