KHARTOUM, May 20 (Reuters) - Artillery fire broke out in Sudan's contested Abyei region on Friday, the United Nations said, hours after the north accused the south of ambushing a convoy in the border area.
"We heard artillery exchanges in Abyei in Todach and Tagalei but we don't know who is fighting whom," said Kouider Zerrouk, spokesperson for the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).
Sudan's northern army earlier accused southern forces of attacking a convoy in Abyei, and threatened to retaliate, escalating a dispute that looms over plans for south Sudan's independence in July. The south denied it started the violence. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing, Khartoum newsroom; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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