57 dead after clashes in Southern Sudan: Official

A Southern Sudanese official says at least 57 people have died in fighting between government forces and a rebel militia.

Brig Malaak Ayuen, the head of Southern Sudan's army information department, today said that fighting between a group of rebels led by Maj Gen Gabriel Tanginye in Jonglei state and southern government forces also led to scores being injured yesterday.

Tanginye was a Khartoum-sponsored warlord who burned and looted southern villages along the Nile River during the decades-long north-south civil war.

He continued serving for the north after a 2005 peace deal ended the war. Although he accepted an amnesty and reintegration package with the southern army late last year, it is now unclear which side Tanginye is fighting for.