A provisional report indicates that at least thirty people have been killed and around forty others injured during clashes in a locality in northern South Sudan, briefly invaded by a group of armed youths following a cattle raid, local officials reported on Thursday.
The incidents, which took place in the northern part of the Ruweng administrative area, began earlier this week when a group of armed youths stole lambs before being repelled by security forces, according to Simon Chol Mialith, the region’s information minister.
The following day, the group returned in greater numbers and launched an attack on the town of Abiemnom. According to his statements, local youths and members of the security forces attempted to repel the attackers, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the attackers’ numerical superiority.
Local media reported that some of the dead were part of the group of attackers.
Clashes between herders and sedentary farming communities are common in South Sudan, but this violence occurs in the context of growing political tensions.
The recent arrest of South Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar by forces loyal to President Salva Kiir is seen by many analysts as an escalation that could lead the country toward a new conflict, following the previous civil war.