Khartoum has raised four paramilitary brigades of the People’s Defense Force to help the army in fighting against the republic of South Sudan, Khartoum State Governor Abdul-Rahman Al-Khidir said on Wednesday.
“Sudan will not keep silent in the face of attacks by South Sudan,” he said.
“Sudan is ready for war if it has to fight.”
The Sudanese air force carried out a series of airstrikes on oilfields across the border in South Sudan's Unity state, South Sudan army spokesman Philip Aguer said on Tuesday.
The attack came a day after an armed clash in the border region, leading Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to cancel a visit to South Sudan.
South Sudan won independence in July 2011 in a referendum that came as part of a peace deal to end decades of civil war. However, fighting still rages in disputed territory along the border with Sudan.
A series of recent tribal clashes in the country are believed to have left some 3,000 people dead.