Clashes between rival tribes in a South Sudan town have left hundreds dead, a UN official has said.

Government troops opened fire to stop about 6,000 armed Lou Nuer tribal youth from entering the town of Pibor in Jonglei state which is home to the rival Murle people, Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator for South Sudan, said on Tuesday.

Tensions between the two tribes over cattle rustling have mounted in recent months.

“There were more than a hundred children who were orphaned and unaccompanied,” Grande told Al Jazeera.

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An OLF splinter group (Jijirama-OLF) created by Ex-OPDO officials has held a meeting in the United States and appears to have “amended” the OLF program to embrace Ethiopian federalism and reject the Oromia secession agenda.

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The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) has announced its historic decision to drop its long-held secessionist agenda and to embrace the unity of Ethiopia under a genuine federal arrangement that must guarantee the rights, equality and liberty of all Ethiopians.

In a historic press release, the OLF, led by Brigadier General Kemal Gelchu, issued at the conclusion of its extraordinary National Council plenary, held on December 30 and 31 in Minnesota, the front spelt out its new vision in an unprecedented clarity. The meeting was also open to any non-Oromo Ethiopians for the first time.

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South Sudan People Liberation Movement and South Sudan People Liberation Army (SSPLM/SSPLA), emerged as a result, of marginalization of all the South Sudan political parties and civil society, failure to adopt a viable political road map which can galvanize and reward the Southern people for their victorious achievement of a just peace, the rampant corruption perpetrated by the SPLM-led government in Juba, neglect of the families of the martyrs in the war of liberation and the rigging of the people’s vote by the SPLM/A in the last elections and the SPLM/SPLA failures to delivered basic services to the citizens of the South. Also, the embezzlements of public funds by the clique in the government have encouraged us to take up arms.

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Hundreds of Ethiopian troops have crossed a border town in neighboring Somalia in order to fight al-Shabaab fighters, witnesses say.

Capt. Hashi Nour of the Somali military confirmed that Somali and Ethiopian troops had moved in the town of Beletweyne on Saturday.

Following the move, hundreds of Somali residents fled the border town, some 30 km (18 miles) into Somalia, local people said.

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At least two are dead and four injured following fighting between security forces of the semi-autonomous state of Puntland and militias loyal to Sheikh Mohamed said (also known as Atom) in Laag village, 30km away from Bosaso in the north of the Bari region. The fighting erupted, according to the residents and officials, after the militias attacked bases belonging to the security forces.

A farmer in Laag village who requested to be identified only as Mukhtar told Somalia Report, “The fighting broke out around 3am, after militants attacked Puntland bases in Laag village.”

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Heavy fighting between Somali government soldiers backing by AU troops and al-Shabaab militants took place overnight in parts of Somalia capital, Mogadishu, TFG official said on Thursday.

Omar Ja’fan, the district commissioner of Huriwa for TFG told Shabelle Media in an interview that Fighting and heavy artillery shelling between Somali government forces backed by African Union peacekeepers and al-Shabaab fighters erupted in many parts of his district in capital city of Mogadishu.

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