Deal signed to end hostilities in S. Sudan's Jonglei

JUBA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Warring clans in South Sudan's Jonglei state on Wednesday signed an agreement to end hostilities and embrace peaceful coexistence after 39 people died during clashes that erupted last year.

South Sudan's Defense Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk told Xinhua by phone that the state government officials and community chiefs initiated a dialogue that included youth and women representatives from the two sub-sections of Abii community to end the violence.

"I am happy that the two clans were able to iron out their differences that divided them and reached an agreement to live again in harmony," Juuk said.

The defense minister said that although the two clans agreed to end fighting, the state authorities still deployed heavy presence of security forces along a previously created buffer zone to monitor any violations and to uphold relative calm in the area.

The Jonglei region has suffered decades of communal and tribal violence, mainly caused by rivalry over livestock and grazing land.

Last week, 15 people were killed and 8 others injured, in addition to the 22 killed and 18 injured in December last year, when members of Nyara clan fought with Biong clan within the section of Abii community over the ownership of land in the same area. Enditem