A disarmament operation escalates in South Sudan. At least 127 people have been killed in recent days in clashes between soldiers and young people from a local community in northern South Sudan, the army spokesman told AFP on Wednesday (August 12th). , Lul Ruai Koang.

"According to the latest figures we have, I can confirm that the death toll stands at 127. According to our information, 82 civilians were killed in these clashes and 45 soldiers from the South Sudanese army," Army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said.

Two soldiers arrested

These clashes began on Saturday and took place in Warrap State, where President Salva Kiir is from. According to the army spokesperson, young armed men from the Gelweng community, refusing to surrender their weapons as part of a government-led operation, attacked an army position in an area called Romic.

In addition to the victims, the clashes left 32 soldiers injured and a number "which remains to be established" among the Gelweng, according to Lul Ruai Koang, who said that the situation was returning to normal there and that the government forces had withdrawn.

The spokesperson added that "two soldiers involved in the outbreak of the clashes had been arrested for questioning" and that appeals had been made to elders of the Gelweng community to help authorities apprehend three young people suspected of having launched the attack on the army.

An unstable region

This region had already been made unstable by recent intercommunal clashes. Many communities are armed in South Sudan, to guard against attacks, including raids by cattle thieves.

On August 6, two days before the launch of the disarmament operation in the region, a civil society organization, the South Sudanese Action Network on Small Arms, warned the government of the consequences of disarmament without prior consultation with the communities.

"We have seen in the past the government disarming civilians without any plan to protect them afterwards. Soon after, these communities were victims of devastating attacks by criminals belonging to neighboring communities," Geoffrey Lou Duke warned in a statement, secretary general of the NGO. He called on the government not to "repeat the mistakes of the past".

South Sudan, where a peace accord was signed in 2018, is struggling to recover from a civil war that has left more than 380,000 people dead in six years and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and former leader of the main rebellion, now vice-president, Riek Machar, formed a national unity government in February.

Fighting between government forces and main rebel groups largely ceased after the signing of the peace agreement, but clashes with resistant groups still take place and inter-communal violence is rife.

With AFP

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