UN warns South Sudanese to flee deadly ethnic vendetta

The United Nations has warned villagers in South Sudan to flee from advancing fighters from a rival ethnic group.

Fighters from the Lou Nuer ethnic group are pursuing members of the Murle group, reports say, as a deadly vendetta over cattle raiding continues.

Tens of thousands of Murle fled the town of Pibor after it came under attack from the Lou Nuer on Saturday.

The BBC's East Africa correspondent Will Ross says some Lou Nuer fighters remain in Pibor but many have left.

About 1,000 people have been killed in recent months as reprisal attacks over cattle raids have escalated.

Deputy UN deputy humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan Lise Grande told the BBC that "several flanks of the attackers have moved in a south-easterly direction [from Pibor], almost certainly looking for cattle".

Ms Grande said they were burning huts as they moved.

She said troops from the South Sudanese army, backed by several hundred UN soldiers, had held the main part of Pibor as it came under attack from the Lou Nuer, but that a clinic belonging to the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) had been "overtaken".

Ms Grande said the UN was tracking the movement of the Lou Nuer and warning others in their path to "disperse into the bush for their safety".

'Reinforcements sent'

Our correspondent said a witness in central Pibor told him some Lou Nuer fighters were still in parts of the town.

He said many of the Lou Nuer were now believed to be in pursuit of the Murle who had fled Pibor.

The BBC has learnt that some of the displaced - mainly women, children and the elderly - have been killed although it has not been possible to verify how many.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has called on the Lou Nuer to stop their advance and return to their traditional areas.

The government said it was deploying more troops and an additional 2,000 police to Pibor.

Military spokesman Col Philip Aguer said on Sunday: "The 2,000 police are being sent within the next 24 hours. Troops will be deployed as soon as possible."

MSF said it had lost contact with some 130 of its staff in Pibor and was "extremely worried" about their safety.

The MSF workers were believed to have fled into the bush when Pibor came under attack.

A spokesman for the medical charity, Parthesarathy Rajendran, told the BBC they had only been able to get in touch with 13 members of the MSF team in the town.

Six thousand fighters from the Lou Nuer group have been marching through Jonglei state in recent weeks, setting fire to homes and seizing livestock.

The entire town of Lukangol was burnt to the ground last week. About 20,000 civilians managed to flee before the attack, but dozens were killed on both sides.

The governor of Jonglei state and the vice-president of South Sudan have been trying to mediate between the rival ethnic groups.

South Sudan became independent on 9 July 2011 following decades of civil war with the north.

One legacy of the conflict is that the region is still flooded with weapons.

These are now being used in ethnic power-struggles, which often focus on cattle because of the central role they play in many South Sudanese communities.