Fighting between local groups in western South Sudan has killed at least 26 people, officials said on Tuesday, as the country's president and vice president called for an end to rising inter-communal violence.
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, and one activist said he suspected there were political motivations behind the violence.
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.