JUBA, South Sudan: At least 38 people have been killed and 52 suffered gunshot injuries in communal clashes in central South Sudan, officials said on Thursday.
The officials said the residents of a marshy area battled with cattle herders who were looking for water and pasture during the dry season.
The fighting began on Wednesday and tensions remained high Thursday night. The officials have reported minor clashes and feared revenge attacks in the remote area.
The information minister of Warrap state, William Wol Mayom, said fighting occurred in the Alor area.
He said the security forces had been sent to control the situation and to move the cattle herders away from the disputed areas.
Minor clashes still reported
Mayom said the violence has been de-escalated, but minor clashes are still being reported in inaccessible marshy areas.
A police spokesperson for Lakes state, Maj. Elijah Mabor Makuach, said 19 of the killed and 17 of the injured were civilians from Warrap state and 19 of the dead and 35 wounded were from Lakes state.
He said herders from Warrap moved to the Alor area with their cattle two weeks ago and started burning temporary shelters of residents. He added the herders were looking for water in the marshy lands of Alor.
The incident occurred four days after at least 52 people, including a UN peacekeeper, were killed and 64 injured by gunmen in Abyei, an oil-rich region that is claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan.
South Sudan got its independence from Sudan in 2011 after more than 39 years of conflict. Many guns are in the hands of civilians who fought in the conflicts.
