Souther Sudan Groups Army

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Fourteen people have been killed in fighting within the ranks of south Sudan's army, an official said on Saturday.
The bloodshed pitted the Unity State governor's bodyguards against those of the deputy of south Sudan's army, state information minister Andrew Kuong said.

An argument on Friday erupted in gunfire then escalated into clashes in a residential area in which eight soldiers and six civilians were killed. At least 10 people were wounded.

Analysts said the violence was a sign of internal rivalries within the former southern rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) which took over government following a peace agreement between the north and the oil-producing south in 2005.

The deal decentralised power in the mainly Christian and animist south and gave it a vote in 2011 on secession.

Violence in the south has risen this year, with the United Nation's estimating that 1,200 people have been killed.

Some southerners blame their former foes in Khartoum, accusing them of arming militias before elections set for next year. Others blame the weak government's failure to secure the south, which is plagued by internal and tribal rivalries.