HEAVY fighting has occurred between government and rebel forces in a strategic Sudanese border town, a source familiar with the situation says, giving the first independent confirmation of the key battle.
The fight for El Kurmuk - which Sudan's army has denied - is the most serious for more than a year in Blue Nile state, which has been largely sealed from the outside world.
"There has been heavy fighting since the start of this week," said the source, who cannot be identified.
Rebels claimed on Sunday to have pushed into Kurmuk's southwest.
Kurmuk, an important trading centre on the Ethiopian border, is the third-largest town in Blue Nile state and has been in government hands since November 2011.
Sudan's government severely restricts access to Blue Nile and South Kordofan, two states where the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North have been fighting since 2011.
Khartoum accuses South Sudan of backing the SPLM-N but the South denies involvement.
The fighting has led to "truly appalling" conditions for civilians trapped in the region, UN humanitarian operations director John Ging said in January.
More than 200,000 people have fled as refugees to South Sudan and Ethiopia, the UN says.
An additional one million have been affected inside Blue Nile and South Kordofan, according to figures from the humanitarian wing of the rebels and data from the government's aid agency.
Ging said there are stories of "people having to rely on roots and leaves" to survive, and that those who escape the area are in an emaciated state.
International concerns are rising over tensions between Khartoum and the South Sudanese government in Juba. The two countries failed to implement agreements, including a demilitarised border zone, which they hailed in September as ending a cross-border conflict.
SPLM-N fighters were allies of southern rebels during the civil war that led to South Sudan's independence two years ago under a 2005 peace agreement.
That deal failed to settle the role of ethnically diverse Blue Nile and South Kordofan within Sudan.
Kurmuk was a key battleground during Sudan's 22-year civil war.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) retook the town in November 2011, two months after fighting began with the SPLM-N.
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