Police authorities in Cueibet County of Lakes State have said 15 people have been killed and 28 others wounded during inter-communal clashes between three sections of the Gok community comprising of Waat, Joth, and Ayiel.
The fighting between Waat and Joth which was joined by other sections of the Gok community was triggered by the killing of a prison officer, Captain Makol Mathiang, who hailed from the Waat section in Mayath Payam on Tuesday evening.
The acting commissioner of police in Cueibet Town, Colonel Machar Muorwel, told Radio Tamazuj that tension is still very high on the ground and there are no forces to rescue the situation.
"Our organized forces in Cueibet have split and divided themselves along sectional lines and are not listening to orders and doing the role of the government. They are doing what is for their community and not the government,” he said.
Col. Machar said the preliminary information about yesterday’s fighting is that 15 people died and 28 were wounded.
He said he will continue to update the media with accurate information on the death toll and those wounded when the security situation calms down. According to Col. Machar, the warring parties are still in the bushes planning to continue fighting.
He said yesterday's fighting started at 9 am and it ceased at 7 pm.
He appealed to the national government in Juba to intervene by sending a battalion with equipment and, “also allow sons and daughters of the Gok community who are residing in Juba to come back home to settle the inter-communal differences among themselves.”
Col. Machar said Cueibet County is at risk and even his own life is in danger due to inter-communal hostilities and targeted revenge killings of high-profile members of the community.
He said a doctor, Chol Maker Luk, who was traveling from Wau to Rumbek was also killed in Amethduol in a separate incident.
Samuel Mabor Makom, a civil society activist in Cueibet County, urged the government to dispatch enough forces to deter further violence between communities in the area.
"Now, there is a massive displacement of people due to the fighting between the two communities. We want to come together as politicians and intellectuals of Cueibet to make peace," Mabor said.
The civil society activist condemned revenge killings and renewed intercommunal clashes in Greater Lakes state.
While political violence has largely subsided in South Sudan since the signing of the revitalized peace agreement in September 2018, inter-communal clashes continue to result in the killing and injuring of civilians, cattle raiding and the looting of property.