New Tribal Clashes Over Chief's Killing

ACCRA (Reuters) - Rival tribesmen clashed anew in northern Ghana on Thursday over reports that a powerful chief had been slaughtered along with about 25 of his bodyguards.

The latest bloodshed in a long-running tribal power struggle within the Dagomba people has escalated since Monday and the violence has forced hundreds from their homes.

Private radio station Joy FM quoted witnesses saying police had stepped in to end an hour-long gun battle on Thursday between rival tribesmen in the town of Yendi, which has been under a state of emergency since Wednesday.

The mainly Muslim Dagomba people, who make up around eight percent of Ghana's population of over 19 million, have been split by a power struggle ever since the West African country's independence from Britain in 1957.

The witnesses said the latest clashes stemmed from a dispute about whether the traditional chief, or Ya-Na, of the Dagomba people of northern Ghana had indeed been beheaded, as security sources said on Wednesday.

The sources said the Ya-Na's body, together with those of around 25 bodyguards, had been torched and his palace destroyed. But members of the Andani clan loyal to the chief said their leader had escaped the slaughter and been spirited 50 miles to the northern provincial capital Tamale.

They said it was one of the Ya-Na's warriors who had been beheaded and they fought with rival tribesmen who insisted the chief had indeed been slain.

Soldiers and police reinforcements have been drafted into both towns since the violence began on Monday. Residents said tension was mounting in Tamale over fears of reprisals by the Andani if reports of the chief's death were confirmed.

The entire area of Dagbon, the ancient kingdom of the Dagomba people, is under a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

The clashes began as Yendi's fire festival, known as the Bugum festival, was due to start on Monday.

One of Ghana's most picturesque festivals, involving a night-time display of drumming, dancing and blazing torches, the Bugum is believed to commemorate the search for the missing son of a previous Dagomba chief.