22 killed in new ethnic violence in South Sudan

Members of a South Sudanese tribe targeted in massive attacks late last month have killed 22 people and burned down three villages of the opposing tribe in new attacks, a state governor said.

Thousands of youth from the Lou Nuer tribe launched a series of cattle raiding attacks in late December and early January in Jonglei state that sent up tens of thousands of villagers fleeing for their lives.

The U.N. has said it is possible hundreds of people were killed. A local official, Pibor County Commissioner Joshua Konyi, said that 3,182 people were killed, mostly women and children. The central government has cast doubt on that figure, though, and says it is investigating. Konyi is a member of the Merle, the tribe that was attacked.

"Pibor county is quite large. It is not possible for the commissioner (to investigate) with the terrain and the difficulty of movement," said government spokesman Barnaba Benjamin Marial.

Whatever the toll, the damage done by the columns of armed fighters was severe. South Sudan's government has declared Jonglei a disaster zone, and the U.N. has said a major emergency operation is under way.