At least 47 people have been killed and many others wounded in ethnic clashes in Southern Sudan, pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV reported on its website on Thursday.

A spokesman for the Sudanese army said 10 people have been killed and 16 others wounded in attacks on Monday against two villages for the Dinka Aliap tribe, one of the largest ethnic groups in south Sudan.

On the other hand, 37 of the attackers who belong to the Mundari ethnicity were killed in the abortive attempt to capture cattle from the two Dinka Aliap villages, spokesman for the southern army Kuol Deim Kuol said. "They did not manage to take any cattle," he added.

Southern Sudan witnessed increasing violence within the past few months. The incidents, according to the United Nations, claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people including many women and children. Around 250,000 more were consequently displaced.

UN humanitarian coordinator Lise Grande said the latest attack comes on the top five other raids pointing out that 10 people were killed and 5,000 others displaced in a similar attack in September.

Sudan awaits a referendum in 2011 on the independence of south.