A committee formed after recent clashes between the army and armed civilians from the Luacjang community in Tonj East County of Warrap State said it managed to collect over 30 guns.
Speaking on behalf of the committee in Tonj town on Monday, Luis Anei Madut, the former Warrap State governor said he was not sure if the guns collected were the ones used in the clashes since the committee lacks details on the number of organized forces that fought with civilians in Romic.
He, however, said the state government has formed a separate committee composed of security forces and civilians to investigate and continue with the collection of guns from citizens.
"We got seven PKM voluntarily, seven RPG and seven 12.7 millimeter. We also got 10 AK-47 rifles and some boxes of bullets, some military uniforms and eight RPG bullets. These are what we got, but the collection is ongoing in the area,” said Anei.
The former governor said the area of Romic is calm, but called for restraint from both the citizens and military as they seek solutions to the problem.
Earlier this month, the clashes erupted between members of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces and armed youth, with much of the violence centred around the village of Romic, about 100 kilometres east of Tonj town. The conflict came amidst a disarmament exercise being carried out across the region.
The fighting left more than 100 people dead.