At least six people were killed and 10 others injured during two days of clashes between youth groups at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, a community leader and police said on Wednesday.
The violence erupted on Tuesday at the site, formerly known as Protection of Civilians (PoC) 3, following a dispute between two girls from different Nuer sections, according to Matiek Banguot, a community chairman at the camp.
Banguot told Radio Tamazuj that a fight between a girl from Leer County and another from Rubkona County prompted youth from Rubkona to intervene and assault the girl from Leer. This, in turn, led to retaliatory attacks by youth from Leer.
“Four people from Leer County were killed and 10 others injured,” Banghuot said. “In retaliation, two men from Rubkona were also killed.”
He said one of the fatalities occurred on Tuesday after police intervened to try to stop the fighting.
“The initial altercation involved girls from the Leek and Adok communities,” Banguot explained. “Gang members from the Leek community in Rubkona County were the first to intervene and beat the girl from the Dok community in Leer County. Hearing this, other youth retaliated, escalating the violence.”
Banguot described the deaths as a tragic loss for the community, noting that one of those killed was a secondary school student due to graduate this year.
James Monday Enoka, a spokesperson for the South Sudan National Police Service, confirmed the clashes had taken place over two days but said he did not yet have details on the identities of the casualties.
“I am not yet aware of the identities of those killed or injured. Detailed information will be provided once security officials submit their reports to me,” Monday said.
The U.N. mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) originally established the PoC sites in 2013 to shelter civilians fleeing civil war that erupted after a political dispute between political leaders.
The site in Juba remains home to thousands of people displaced by the conflict.