60 dead in south Sudan tribal clashes

July 18, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Tribal clashes in southern Sudan have killed at least 60 people over the past week, the official SUNA news agency reported Tuesday.

The clashes, between the Aqar and Aqok branches of the Dinka, the region’s largest ethnic group, were sparked by disputes over water and pasture, the news agency said.

The former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement which heads the regional government was forced to intervene to calm the clashes in Lakes state which broke out on July 11, it added.

SPLM leader and First Vice President Salva Kiir is himself a Dinka.

(ST)