Sudanese war planes launched a fresh bombing raid on a key South Sudanese town on Monday, dashing hopes that a withdrawal of Southern troops from a contested area would end weeks of fighting.

Several bombs were dropped on Bentiu, capital of the oil-rich South Sudan border state of Unity, killing at least one child, officials said.

“This is a serious escalation and a violation of the territory of South Sudan… I think it is a clear provocation,” Mac Paul, the South’s deputy director of military intelligence said.

The attack, the latest of several on the town and in South Sudan’s border state, come a day after the South’s army said it had completed a pullout of the contested Heglig oil field, seized from Sudan’s army on April 10.  – Photos and text by AFP.