More than a dozen people are feared dead following fresh intercommunal fighting over a disputed fishing island involving communities from Twic East and Duk counties in South Sudan’s Jonglei state.
The latest violence, which occurred on May 6, is part of a long-running dispute over ownership of fishing grounds that has persisted for about three years.
Previous clashes mainly involved the Hol community of Duk County and the Ayual community of Twic East County, but the latest incident reportedly involved the Hol and Kongor communities over a different location.
James Magok, commissioner of Twic East County, told Radio Tamazuj Monday that armed attackers suspected to have come from Duk County launched a nighttime assault on Miny island, which he said belongs to Twic East.
“We only learned of the incident after receiving a wounded man on Saturday because there is no mobile network coverage in Miny,” Magok said. “According to the eyewitness, they were attacked on the night of May 6 and he fled immediately with gunshot wounds, so he could not confirm the fate of the many people left behind.”
Magok said security personnel and local youth had been dispatched to the area to gather information.
“For now, no statistics are available on those killed or injured until the team we sent returns,” he said. “We do not know how many were killed or are missing because some people may still be hiding.”
John Chatim Ruei, commissioner of Duk County, said authorities there had only learned of the incident through reports and had also sent a team to investigate.
“Miny belongs to Duk County, so we do not know whether the incident occurred there or in another location called Gogog,” he said. “There is no network coverage there, so we sent people to investigate.”
Bol Deng Bol, chairperson of the Jonglei Civil Society Network, called for urgent government intervention, saying repeated clashes between communities in Duk and Twic East counties had claimed many lives in recent years.
“This conflict between the Hol community of Duk and several communities in Twic East has gone on for too long and is now in its third year,” he said. “Lives and livelihoods have been destroyed, while promises by the state government to resolve the conflict have shown no genuine progress.”
Bol said the latest attack in Miny was believed to have left at least 12 people dead, with several others missing.
“It is disturbing because the government is not taking serious initiatives despite calls for dialogue,” he added.
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