9 killed, 12 injured in tribal clash in S. Sudan

At least 9 people were killed and 12 others wounded in tribal clashes between the Panyon and Dhiei sections of Dinka tribe in South Sudan's Lakes State, Radio Tamazuj reported Tuesday.

"The clashes erupted on Saturday morning when the Panyon clan accused Dhiei of killing one person from their side," the radio quoted Jok Ayom, Lake State's acting information minister, as saying.

Five people were killed and seven others wounded from Dhiei clan while four people were killed and five others wounded from Panyon clan, he noted.

Ayom pointed out that the clashes stopped after security forces were sent to control the clashes in Rumbek East County, attributing the problem to an unresolved dispute between the two clans.

South Sudan is suffering from tribal conflicts and armed clashes between the components of the population due to disputes over land ownership and cattle looting.

S. Sudan gained its independence in 2011, but plunged into violence in December 2013 as fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy Riek Machar.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war, with violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

The clashes have left thousands of South Sudanese dead and forced around 1.9 million people to flee their homes. Endit