Over 50 people killed in new communal violence in South Sudan

JUBA, South Sudan

A fresh communal violence has killed 56 civilians in South Sudan, a local official said on Tuesday.

The conflict erupted in the Greater Pibor administrative area between groups of armed youth from Greater Pibor and the neighboring Jonglei state.

“The conflict started yesterday (on Monday) in the Gumuruk and Kongor towns of Pibor. It ended in the evening time,” Abraham Kelang Jiji, Greater Pibor’s information minister, told Anadolu Agency over the phone.

He also said 17 people were injured in the fighting, which restarted in early Tuesday morning.

The government has deployed soldiers to protect civilians, Jiji said, though situation is still worse.

“The attackers are still continuing fighting youth, but civilians, mostly women and children, are under the protection of the government,” he said.

Jiji added that the attackers stole several cattle herds.

“They also attacked government facilities. Yesterday, they attacked military barracks and killed one soldier and injured 17 others,” he said.

The government of Jonglei state condemned the attack on civilians by suspected youth from Jonglei.

“We are saddened and shocked by the report of a barbaric attack on the Gumuruk town of Greater Pibor administrative area by armed criminals suspected to be from our state” John Samuel Manyuon, information and communication minister of Jonglei state, said in a statement on Tuesday.

He urged suspected attackers to immediately withdraw from the territories of Greater Pibor, calling such acts unacceptable and intolerable, and said those who will be found to have carried it out will be dealt with accordingly.

“We are calling on the National Government to intervene and be part of the solution into ending this cycle of inter-communal violence of killing …,” the official said.

The attack came a few days after the UN mission in South Sudan warned of violence following mobilization and preparation for an attack by armed youth and militia groups from the two areas.

Cattle raids, child abduction and revenge attacks have been the main sources of conflict between the rival armed youth in South Sudan for years.

Insecurity remains rife across the landlocked East African country despite the formation of a unity government in February 2020.