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PORT VILA, Vanuatu (AP) - The government of the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu declared a state of emergency Monday after ethnic clashes at a squatter settlement, reportedly over claims of witchcraft, left two men dead and eight others hospitalized, officials said.
Armed police arrested more than 100 people after the violence broke on Saturday at the Blacksands settlement that houses thousands of people outside the capital, Port Vila, and were maintaining a heavy presence there to prevent further violence, police spokesman Willie Ben said.
Dozens of armed personnel from the Vanuatu Mobile Force were at the Blacksands settlement Monday where arrests for unlawful assembly, assault and property damage were continuing, Ben said.
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