A tribal chief and several other
people have been killed in factional clashes in the far north of Ghana, police and other sources said today.
At least 40 other people were killed in factional clashes today, police said.
The fighting, which began on Monday, is part of a long-running dispute over the traditional chieftaincy in Yendi, 80 km (50 miles) north of the provincial capital Tamale.
Police reinforcements and soldiers were sent to the area to enforce an overnight curfew imposed on Monday, but witnesses in the town said sporadic shooting had continued even after they arrived and Yendi remained tense today.
Police sources said tribal chief Yakubu Andani - the Ya-Na or Paramount Chief of the Dagombas of northern Ghana - and several others had been killed during overnight fighting.
The clashes came as Yendi's traditional fire festival, known as the Bugum festival, was due to start.
It is regarded as one of the West African country's most picturesque festivals, involving a night-time display of drumming, dancing and blazing torches believed to commemorate the search for the missing son of a previous Dagomba chief.