UN on high alert in S Sudan

UN peacekeepers remain on high alert in South Sudan's flashpoint town of Pibor where escalating tribal violence has prompted thousands to flee, a senior UN official said yesterday.
The United Nations has deployed peacekeeping reinforcements in Pibor in the troubled Jonglei state over the past four days as a column of 6,000 armed youths from the Lou Nuer tribe marched on the town pursuing a rival tribe.
"We remain on high alert and are very concerned that civilians may be at risk," a UN source said.
The Lou Nuer youths, several hundred of whom had arrived on the outskirts of Pibor on Friday, were pursuing members of the Murle tribe who began fleeing towards Pibor several days ago after the Lou Nuer raided the town of Lukangol.
That town, the MSF spokesman said, has been reduced to ashes.
A group calling itself the Nuer Youth White Army issued a statement on December 26 vowing to "wipe out the entire Murle tribe... as the only solution to guarantee long-term security of Nuer cattle."
The group accuses the Murle of raiding Nuer cattle and killing members of their tribe since 2005.