Seventeen people were killed and 14 others injured in clashes between the Sudanese Army and rebels in Southern Kordofan State, the state-run SUNA news agency reported yesterday.

Fighting broke out on Friday in the country’s main oil-producing state, according to SUNA, one day after government forces and members of the northern branch of the ruling party in neighboring South Sudan clashed in the capital of Blue Nile state.

The governor of Blue Nile state was fired yesterday as the Sudanese president Umar al-Bashir declared a state of emergency in the capital after fighting broke out, SUNA reported.

Sudan’s government has been trying to disarm members of the SPLM-N in the border states of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan who fought with the forces of South Sudan during the two-decade civil war that ended in 2005. South Sudan gained independence on July 9. Sudanese government soldiers have clashed with SPLM-N fighters since June 5 in Southern Kordofan.