S Sudan militia head surrenders, death toll rises to 160

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JUBA, (Sudan), Apr 25 (AFP): A top militia chief has surrendered in south Sudan after clashes that killed more than 160 people, the army said Monday, as the soon to be independent nation reels from a string of bloody battles. The deaths over the past week have come in fighting between the south's army and two separate militia groups, pushing the number of those killed to almost 1,000 dead since January and prompting president Salva Kiir to renew his call for reconciliation. "Gabriel Tang and around 1,300 of his men surrendered peacefully on Sunday," said Malaak Ayuen, spokesman for the south's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). "They have been received in a friendly way and are being treated with respect." On Saturday, 57 gunmen led by Tang in northern Jonglei state were killed in a shoot-out with SPLA troops, before fleeing into the surrounding bush, Ayuen said. Seven SPLA soldiers also died in the battle, he added, while more than 70 wounded soldiers and civilians were reported to be receiving treatment in hospital. Tang commanded a pro-Khartoum militia during Sudan's devastating 1983-2005 civil war between the north and south, in which about two million people died, but he agreed to join the southern army late last year. Saturday's fighting broke out after arguments over the militia's formal integration, with troops reluctant to relocate to the southern capital Juba, Ayuen said.