The archbishop of Catholic Church of Malakal Diocese has called on the Twic and Abyei communities to end the violent conflict.
“Let us accept to mind all the beautiful stories we had shared together and use them to reconcile and make peace,” Stephen Nyodho said.
In February 2022, the dispute between the two communities over the ownership of Aneet area led to deadly clashes.
Since then, armed youth from the two communities have been attacking each other.
This occurs despite conduct of several peace dialogues and a recommendation suggesting application of facts based on the 1956 Bahr el Ghazal-South Kordofan border.
The latest clashes took place on Sunday in Abyei, where 32 people were killed, and several others injured.
Nyodho asks for forgiveness and reconciliation in order to restore social cohesion, saying Twic and Ngok people are socially interconnected and should live in peace.
He described the ongoing clashes as a waste of resources, time for development and diminishing the future for the young children in term of education and economics.
“Peace is an important [element] that can make us to build this country, and in particular Abyei and Twic, to develop. So, dear brothers and sisters, there is the need for forgiveness among yourself,” the archbishop argued.
The death toll of the intercommunal conflict, which some traditional leaders blame on politicians, is about 200.