Two dead in fresh Lakes state clashes
June 29, 2013 (RUMBEK) – Fresh inter-communal clashes in South Sudan’s Lakes state have left two dead, authorities told Sudan Tribune Friday.
Manyang Luk Lueth, the Yirol East County commissioner, said government forces had to be deployed to contain the clash between the Nam and Lith sub-clans.
A person, Lueth said, died on spot during the attack, while the other was reportedly killed in what he described as a revenge retaliatory attack.
“Clashes occurred in Yirol East County in a cattle camp called Buriek, which is located in western part of river Jaw on Wednesday. The clashes occurred during [a] wrestling game between the youth of two clans of Nam and Lith, which are traditional rivals”, the commissioner said.
Two people got killed in the clash, one from each side, he added.
Lueth, however said, police have been deployed in the volatile area to prevent any possible outbreak of violence.
A community leader, however, told Sudan Tribune that there were fears the situation would go out of hand, after the army involvement.
“There is fear of overreaction since the army and the care-taker governor in Lakes state have become notorious for heavy handedness and human rights abuses”, he said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, accused the current Lakes state governor, Matur Chut Dhuol of allegedly failing to put in place proper policies to control insecurity in the region since his appointment, early this year.
South Sudan president, Salva Kiir appointed Dhuol to succeed the elected governor Chol Tong Mayay, following the deteriorating level of security in the state.
The US-based Human Rights Watch on Monday accused South Sudanese soldiers (SPLA) of allegedly detaining unlawfully and mistreating, since February, more than 130 civilians in its Lakes state.
The move, it said in a recent report, was in response to armed violence and inter-communal fighting that occurred in the state.
Since its independence two years ago, gun violence in Lakes state has reportedly resulted in numerous deaths and displacement, thus hampering development in the region.
(ST).