Central Equatoria State authorities said they have deployed troops to deter violence between the host community and cattle keepers in Mangala Payam of Juba County.

The situation went out of hand last week when Mangala youth clashed with Jonglei cattle keepers.

The violence has reportedly forced at least 3,000 people to flee their homes.

Addressing a press conference at the State Secretariat in Juba on Thursday, Central Equatoria State Governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony said the security situation in the area is returning to normal following the incident.

“We took swift action, the government deployed forces in Mangala town to deter any further escalation of the problem, and I want to inform you now that the government has taken control of the situation in Mangala,” he said.

The governor explained the clashes erupted because of the destruction of farmlands by cattle that were moving to Bor after the pastoralists were ordered to go back to Jonglei.

“As the cattle were moving towards Bor, some of them entered onto the farms and this created misunderstanding which led to the loss of lives,” he said.

Governor Adil called on the people of Mangala to be calm, as the state government has taken necessary precautions to control the situation.

“There are two dead bodies initially because the skirmishes were not collected. We have directed the forces in Mangala to ensure those bodies are collected and then buried. Unfortunately, we lost at least five people because of this incident,” he said.

The state official called on humanitarian agencies to respond to the emergency needs of the displaced persons.

Source: Radio Tamazuj