A total of 25 persons had been killed or injured in renewed clashes between a nomadic tribe and the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in southern Sudan, the official SUNA news agency reported on Saturday.
Mukhtar Babunimer, the emir of the Masirria tribe, was quoted as saying that 16 persons were killed and nine others wounded in the clashes, which took place on Friday at al-Jarf area.
He said that the SPLA was gathering forces north of the borders between northern and southern Sudan, which is well-known as the Jan. 1, 1956 boundaries.
The clashes happened only hours after a visit paid by a government delegation led by Minister of Defense Abdul-Rahim Mohammed Hussein and Minister for Cabinet Affairs Pagan Amum in order to mediate the dispute between the two sides.
Hussein is a senior of the ruling National Congress Party led by Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir, while Amum is the secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the political umbrella of the SPLA.
It is still unknown why clashes took place again after the visit of the government delegation.
Nomadic tribes in Sudan generally have a tradition of moving southward in winter to look for herbage and water.
