JUBA, South Sudan
Authorities in South Sudan's Warrap State on Monday confirmed that 18 government soldiers and seven-armed youth were killed in clashes between the two groups in Rualbet Payam of Tonj North County on Saturday.
According to Warrap state
officials, the SSPDF soldiers deployed to recover stolen cattle clashed
with youth from the Awan Parek clan in Rualbet Payam.
The youths had radied 125
cattle from the Konggor section in Aliek Payam.
Among those killed were the
Military Chief of Intelligence Division 11, Lt. Col. Akec Ciman Paac, SSPDF
Division 11 Military Chief for Operations Maj. Santino Kuot Kuotdit and the
former Mayen Jur County Commissioner Kuol Agok.
"It was on Thursday last
week that criminals from Rualbet and Akop payams ganged up and went to Aliek
payam of Konggor community and raided over 100 cattle and divided among
themselves. So, the acting commissioner of Tonj North County ordered Major Gen.
of Disarmament forces to recover cattle and when soldiers confiscated cattle
and brought them to their base, they (SSPDF) were attacked and overrun,"
Warrap State Information minister Riing Deng Adiing.
He added, "18 both senior
and junior officers were killed and some are missing and seven-armed youth also
confirmed dead. We don't know the number of those wounded; we have to
confirm."
Meanwhile, Bak Ajuot, acting
commissioner of Tonj North County confirmed the incident but said the casualty
numbers are still unclear as soldiers were scattered in the bushes.
Ajuot said the clashes lasted
for about six hours. He also pointed out that Rualdit Payam has no telephone
network and they only get information from people travelling to and from
the area.
Warrap State, and particularly
Tonj North County, has been the scene of bloody clashes in recent years between
government forces and young armed civilians.
In August 2020, at least 127
people died in clashes between soldiers and youths from a local community, the
Gelweng, who refused to be disarmed.
The young nation of 11 million
is struggling to recover from a civil war and an entrenched economic and
political crisis.
The five-year conflict, which
pitted now-President Salva Kiir against his rival and current Vice President
Riek Machar, killed almost 400,000 people and displaced millions from their
homes.
A 2018 ceasefire and
power-sharing deal between Kiir and Machar still largely holds but little
progress has been made in implementing its provisions.
The UN warned earlier this
year that the country risks a return to conflict. - Africa
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