Nairobi - As many as 750 people have died this month in South Sudan during clashes over cattle rustling, worsening the security situation and preventing refugees from returning, according to the United Nations.

A statement available on the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR website on Thursday said that fighting between the Nuer and Murle ethnic groups in Jonglei state, sparked by cattle rustling raids, was still spreading.

Fighters also attacked an aid convoy on Tuesday and protests by members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) have caused chaos near the Ugandan border.

The soldiers, many of whom are veterans of the 1983-2005 civil war between the mainly Christian south and Muslim north, were protesting over unpaid wages.

More than 1.5 million peopled died in the conflict, which ended with the formation of the autonomous South Sudan.

The deteriorating security situation forced the UNHCR to suspend convoys from Uganda carrying refugees from the civil war back home. (dpa)