At least 20 people have been killed and 18 others injured in South Sudan’s Jonglei State, following clashes between two rival communities over the renaming of a contested village, Xinhua reports quoting local government officials.
Jonglei State Information Minister Jacob Akech Deng is reported to say that the deadly conflict erupted in Bor South county over the weekend after the two groups failed to reach an agreement over the name of their village.
One of the sides demanded that the village’s name be changed to Anuet instead of Panweel, a move that resulted in the eruption of fighting.
Akech however said calm had returned to the arear after police and army created a buffer zone between the rival factions.
He added that seven people suspected of being ringleaders of the violence have been arrested and they would soon be arraigned in court.
“It was unfortunate that a dispute over naming of a village reached to level of confrontations which killed 20 people and 18 injured others in Bor South County,” Akech said.
“We have issued warrant of arrest for the ringleaders of the violence. Seven people have been locked up and the police are still doing its work. We are going to implement the law with full gear because we cannot entertain violence in our communities,” he added.
The Jonglei region has suffered decades of communal and tribal violence, mainly caused by rivalry over livestock and grazing land. Last month, ethnic violence in the same region killed over 50 people.
