Fresh fighting in South Sudan kills 26 people, officials say

Fighting between local groups in western South Sudan has killed at least 26 people, officials said, Report informs referring to Reuters.

More than 150 people have been killed since last week in separate conflicts that have pitted armed youths from Warrap State against rivals from the neighboring Lakes and Western Bar El Ghazal states, and Abyei, an administrative area that is jointly run by South Sudan and Sudan.

The conflicts do not appear to be directly connected but are all linked to the control of land and natural resources, local officials say.

South Sudan has been formally at peace since a 2018 deal that ended a five-year conflict responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, but localized violence between rival communities flares frequently.

President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar, whose respective forces battled each other during the 2013-2018 civil war, met to call for "an end to sub-national violence in parts of the country", according to a post by the government on social media platform X.

National elections are due later this year to choose leaders who will succeed the current transitional government.