South Sudan troops capture oil-rich border town, Sundan says

JUBA, South Sudan – A Sudanese minister says troops from rival South Sudan have captured an oil-rich border town claimed by Sudan after a day of fighting.

The Sudanese government admitted late Wednesday that the South Sudan Army (SPLA) has taken over Heglig and that its forces have withdrawn to regroup. The town is 60 miles east of the disputed region of Abyei, whose fate was left unresolved when South Sudan split last year from Sudan.

Hostilities between the two countries have grown in recent months, even as the south has said it is trying to avoid a return to war. The two sides never reached a deal to share the region's oil resources or delineated their exact border.

Prior to the split last year, the two sides fought a civil war that lasted decades.