By Skye Wheeler

JUBA, Sudan, May 26 (Reuters) - South Sudan's president on Tuesday said he would send out soldiers to disarm hundreds of thousands of civilians to stop a surge in tribal killings.

Hundreds have died in the clashes between ethnic groups in the oil producing region in disputes often sparked by land rights and cattle rustling.

Tribal conflicts are common in the south, but observers have been shocked by the scale of the violence, much of its fuelled by weapons left over from two decades of civil war.

"We will soon affect a comprehensive disarmament of all civilian populations in south Sudan," said president Salva Kiir, speaking at an anniversary celebration of the founding of the south's army.

He said the scale of this year's fighting was unusual and part of a strategy by what he called "enemies of peace" to discredit the semi-autonomous south's ability to run its own affairs.

Kiir's Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) fought a civil war with northern Sudan that ended in 2005 with a peace deal that created a southern parliament and gave the region a share in the country's oil revenues.

But a fall in the global oil price has had a crippling impact on the southern government's budget and its ability to pay its soldiers and civil servants -- another factor in growing discontent, say analysts.

Disarmament campaigns have run into trouble before in South Sudan. Some communities have objected and ended up fighting with soldiers and government officials sent to collect their weapons.

The spokesman for the south's army, Malaak Ayuen, told Reuters Kiir had this time secured the agreement of tribal chiefs across the region.

"All of the leaders agreed that disarmament should not be delayed anymore," Ayuen said.

The Small Army Survey research highlighted the risks in disarmament campaigns in the south in a report this year.

Drunk soldiers in a disarmament campaign in the southern town of Rumbek created havoc in September when they went on a day-long shooting spree, it said.

In Eastern Equatoria State, the report said, eight soldiers and 11 civilians were killed when violence broke out during a disarmament exercise in June.

Tuesday's army celebrations featured a military parade that included three tanks and a range of heavy artillery.

Southern Sudan's relations with the north have been strained since the signing of the 2005 peace deal, and their armies have clashed, most recently over the central oil region of Abyei which is claimed by both sides. (Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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