At least three people have been reportedly killed and three others injured in the latest fight over Aneet or Juljok.
On Monday, the clashes between armed youth from Abyei Administrative Area and Twic County of Warrap State resumed over “Aneet ownership”.
“The cause of the fighting remains the same; it is a continuation of the land dispute over Aneet ownership,” said Bol Koch, minister of Information, Culture, Youth, and Sports in Abyei Administrative Area.
The minister could not identify the victims immediately, but he said two of the injured are a mother and her teenage daughter.
Hon. Bol urged the traditional leaders of both communities of Abyei and Warrap state to intervene and stop the violence.
“It is true that people fight and at the end, they get to the table and talk. So, talking is the solution to the fight,” he added.
For their part, the minister of information in the government of Warrap State denied any involvement of Twic youth in Juljok clashes.
“Our youth from Twic have not participated in any fighting in Aneet or Juljok in recent days,” William Wol stated.
“If there was fighting in Aneet, then it was maybe between Abyei armed youth and the people they know, but not our youth from Twic.’’
Minister Wol also reiterated calls to respect the ceasefire and peace agreements signed between the Abyei and Twic communities.
In February 2022, the dispute between the two communities over the ownership of Southern Kiir River led to deadly clashes.
Since then, the two communities have been engaging in violent attacks, which have reportedly claimed about 150 lives so far.
The reports of intercommunal conflict continue to be reported more than 12 months after President Salva Kiir set up a fact-finding committee, which later recommended that the matter be resolved by the national government, with help of experts who have the 1956 historical maps.
Though the conflict was triggered by the land ownership claims, politicians on both sides are to blame for the attacks between the two communities, according to area chiefs.