32 States of South Sudan, including contested areas with Sudan.

Tension are still high between bordering communities in Northern Liech and Twic states, days after a number of people were killed in cattle related clashes.

There are unverified reports of killings, and destructions as a result of counterattacks between cattle keepers in the two states.

According to officials in Northern Liech state, armed attackers from the neighboring Twic state raided cattle on Sunday, prompting armed youths from the area to retaliate.

Twic State Minister of Information, Michael Mayot appealed to the government of Northern Liech to work in collaboration with Twic state government to stop further escalation of violence.

“It is our collective responsibility to make sure the region is stabilized and the people are enjoying the revitalized peace agreement. I am urging our counterpart -the government of Northern Liech state to join hands with the government of Twic state to make sure that the region is witnessing relative calm and stability,” Mayot said.

Northern Liech state Information Minister, Lam Tungwar said there is need to address the root-causes of the violence and to conduct a thorough investigation into the deaths and violence.

“The government of Northern Liceh state, which is the chair of northern corridor including Twic state, is working to have a quick response to discuss the issues of cattle,” he stated.

Lam Tungwar also urged people outside the states not to fuel the conflict. He said social media users have been circulating misleading information that only serves to increase tensions and cause the escallation of the conflict.

“Words which increase tensions or incite communities should be avoided, because people don’t know the root causes of this matter. They should investigate, analyzed and try to make conclusions before sending out such [negative] messages . This is not a positive contribution to cohesion amongst these communities,” Lam said.