Fighting has broken out in the disputed, oil-rich region between northern and southern Sudan. South Sudan will be become an independent nation in July.
    
Satellite images from a group backed by actor George Clooney, showed an estimated 300 buildings had been burned to the ground from a militia attack in a village near the town of Abyei.

"The village burning has caused tens of thousands to be displaced, unknown numbers of civilian casualties, and the deliberate destruction of at least three communities," said Clooney.
    
Protestors at Sudan's embassy in Washington, D.C. charged that northern troops attacked civilians in the region. The protesters claimed Abyei wants to join south Sudan, but the north won't let it go.

"The Sudan armed forces together with the Misseriya militias attacked brutally the town of Abyei and the surrounding villages," said Erjok Mayor of the Abyei Solidarity Campaign. "As a result 300 died, mainly children and women."   

As talks over Abyei began Monday in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, Abyei officials were less than optimistic about the outcome of the meeting.

"We are not expecting anything to come out of the talks," Charles Abyei said. "If Khartoum was serious they would not have supplied the whole areas of northern Abyei with arms. They have the intention of occupying the whole area of Abyei to try to control it."