UN evacuates staff from South Sudan town on tribal clashes

Nov 15, 2005 (NAIROBI) — Tribal clashes in a key town in southern Sudan have left several people dead and forced the U.N. to evacuate international staff, aid workers said Tuesday.

The violence in Yambio, a Sudanese town near the border with Congo, began Monday afternoon with minor skirmishes that quickly escalated into widespread clashes between members of the Zambe tribe, dominant in the immediate area, and the Dinka, the largest ethnic community in southern Sudan, U.N. workers said.

Those involved in the conflict fired assault rifles, torched homes and a compound belonging to the U.N.’s World Health Organization. No U.N. worker was wounded or killed. Aid workers, however, saw several dead bodies in the town, a U.N. worker said on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the organization.

The dead included the Sudanese head of an agriculture training center that is affiliated with Catholic Relief Services, said James Ashman of the Baltimore-based relief agency.

Less than a year ago, the government and former southern rebels signed an agreement to end a 21-year civil war that was mainly fought in the region.

The south is desperately in need of economic development and reconciliation among the Dinka, smaller tribes and the Nuer, the second largest community. Tribal tensions were manipulated by northern politicians to weaken the south during the war.

The north-south peace agreement provided for an autonomous south with its own army, government and a new constitution during a six-year interim period. After the transition, the 10 southern states will hold a referendum on independence.

(AP/ST)