20100122

JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - Tribal fighters killed at least 15 people in clashes with a rival group in south Sudan's troubled Jonglei state, one of the focuses of a recent surge in ethnic violence, the region's army said on Friday.

Aid groups believe as many as 2,500 people may have died in inter-tribal fighting since the beginning of last year, mostly in Jonglei, threatening stability in the oil-producing region ahead of presidential and legislative elections due in April.

Armed members of the Dinka Rut, part of the south's largest ethnic group the Dinka, attacked a settlement occupied by the Nuer Thiang group on Thursday, southern army spokesman Kuol Deim Kuol told Reuters.

"On the Nuer side some 15 were killed and 16 wounded. We don't yet have details of the casualties on the Dinka side," he said.

Kuol added it is not yet clear what the fighting near the larger settlement of Fangak was about. "It could be tribal differences. We don't know yet."

Ethnic fighting has plagued the south for years, often sparked by deadly cycles of cattle raiding and revenge attacks.

But the high death toll from recent clashes, and the targeting of women and children, has sparked accusations of political meddling.

Southern leaders accused their former civil war foes in the north of arming tribal militias to destabilise the region, while analysts suggested leading figures in the south may also be arming fellow tribe members to build up their constituencies.