South Sudan claims 'jet' shootdown

South Sudan said on Wednesday that it had shot down a Sudanese fighter jet, accusing Khartoum of having ordered an aerial attack on its territory just hours after talks to ease tensions between the two nations ended without an agreement.

"The forces of the Republic of South Sudan were able to shoot down and destroy one MiG-29," South Sudan's lead negotiator Pagan Amum said in Addis Ababa, where talks with Sudan on security adjourned without an agreement.

The Sudanese army, meanwhile, refutes the claim.

"What media reported, that we lost a fighter plane in Unity state, we confirm that is completely incorrect," Sawarmi Khaled Saad, the Sudanese army spokesman said.

Colonel Philip Aguer, meanwhile, said South Sudanese forces shot down a Sudanese MiG-29 jet fighter and that it was one of two jets flying over South Sudanese oil fields.

He added that the jets in question had dropped bombs in the region earlier on Wednesday.

"Indeed Sudanese air force... attacked South Sudan and the garrison of Panakuach where division four of SPLM is located," said Amum, referring to the southern army. He pointed to Sudan's “war-mongering posture”.

Sudan and South Sudan failed on Wednesday to hammer out their disputes in talks sparked by the heavy fighting in the contested oil-rich border region of Heglig last week.

South Sudan accused Khartoum's delegation of walking out of the latest round of African Union-led crisis talks, but a Sudanese minister voiced confidence that a deal will be signed when negotiations resume next week.

"They have literally walked out... We are ready to sign but Khartoum ran," Anum said after the Sudanese delegation left. He also said the mood between the two negotiating teams was "not good" as the talks closed.

World leaders have urged the two sides to halt the fighting.

South Sudan split from the Sudan last year after decades of civil war, but the two nations have been moving closer to a military confrontation in recent weeks.

tm/pfd (AFP, AP)