By Yassin Juma
NAIROBI
At least eight people were killed and hundreds of others displaced after fighting broke out between South Sudanese refugees in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya, Kenyan police said Sunday.
Turkana County Deputy Police Chief, Joshua Aseto, said the fighting erupted between members from the Nuer and others from the Dinka, the two main tribes in South Sudan.
He said more than 20 people were injured during the clashes, while a large number of camp residents had to flee and leave the violence behind.
Fighting between the members of the two tribes, the deputy police chief told Anadolu Agency by phone, had been raging since Thursday.
He noted that the violence was triggered by the alleged rape by a Dinka man of a ten-year-old Nuer girl.
Refugees from other countries, including Burundi and Congo, were caught in the middle of fights between the members of the two tribes, which forced them to flee for safety outside the refugee camp.
"The Burundians and Congolese left the camp out of fear," Aseto said. "We try to persuade them to return, having assured them of their safety once they return," he added.
Around 93 refugees had been arrested against the background of the Kakuma camp clashes, according to Kenyan police.
Other sources, meanwhile, said the death toll from the clashes was higher than the government-provided figure. However, the United Nations refugee agency could not confirm the toll.
"The fighting started at Kakuma Camp 4 and spread to other camps, but the situation is now calm after police officers were sent," UNHCR spokesperson Emmanuel Nyabera told AA.
Burundian refugees were drawn into the fighting after the Dinka alleged that a Burundian motorbike taxi man had intentionally hit a Dinka girl
Kakuma is the second largest refugee camp in northern Kenya. It accommodates around 180,000 refugees, most of them come from South Sudan, but a significant number of the refugees also come from Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi and Congo.
South Sudan descended into violence in mid-December when mainly Nuer rebels sought to stage a military coup against the Dinka government of the fledgling country.
Ensuing battles have displaced thousands of people.
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