At least 22 people were reported killed and 41 others wounded in inter-clan clashes between two sections of the Pakam community over a dog beaten to death in Rumbek North County in Western Lakes State from Tuesday evening until Wednesday.
A source who preferred anonymity told Radio Tamazuj on Friday that clashes erupted between the Gak and Manuer sections of the Dinka tribe when a dog owned by an old woman from the Manuer section was beaten to death by a young man from the same section, but he is an in-law to a family from the Gak section.
“Fighting started on Tuesday evening between the Manuer and the Gak sections of the Pakam community when a dog was beaten by a young man from the same section of Manuer that owned the dog, but the same young man is a brother in-law to a man from the Gak section,” he said.
“So an old woman from the Manuer who is the owner of the dog started crying over her dog for a long period of time. She was ask not to cry and wait if the dog would die so that she could be compensated, but she kept crying, before the dog died, the two sections started beating each other with sticks and the fighting stopped later,” he added.
The eyewitness further said members of the Gak section became angry when a man from the Manuer section decided to beat their in-law who killed the old woman’s dog at Rual Nuer area.
He noted that the fighting between the two sides resumed on Wednesday morning when some youths from the Manuer section at Amuok area shot dead a 16-year old boy called Maker Manyok from the Gak section.
He revealed that about 12 people were killed and 17 others wounded from the Gak section, while 10 people were killed and 24 others wounded from the Manuer section during the clashes from Tuesday evening until Wednesday.
According to the same source, about six wounded people from the Gak section were taken to Military Hospital in Juba for treatment, while the wounded people from the Manuer section couldn’t access any medical facility after being pushed to a remote area during the fighting.
He claimed that the security situation returned to normal after government officials including the state governor visited the area.
Radio Tamazuj couldn’t reach local officials to comment on the incident.