Military officials in southern Sudan say fresh clashes in the oil-rich
Upper Nile region killed 25 people, including a tribal chief and his
family.
Authorities say the violence began Friday when heavily
armed fighters attacked an ethnic Dinka village in Bony-Thiang, killing
20 civilians.
Military officials say Dinka villagers retaliated Saturday by attacking a Shilluk tribal settlement nearby, killing five people.
An
army spokesman with Sudan's leading party, the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement, accused a breakaway political party of arming the
Shilluk villagers, as part of a northern-backed campaign to undermine a
2005 peace deal.
Spokesman Kuol Diem Kuol accused former Foreign
Minister Lam Akol, who formed the breakaway party, Sudan People's
Liberation Movement for Democratic Change or SPLM, in June, of arming
the villagers.
Akol dismissed the claim.
Authorities in
the south have accused Akol of receiving money and support from the
northern-based National Congress Party of President Omar al-Bashir.
Southern
officials accuse Khartoum of trying to spark conflict to derail the
2005 peace deal, under which southern Sudan became semi-autonomous.
Southern Sudan is scheduled to vote on independence in 2011.
Khartoum denies the charge.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
