Two youths stab each other to death in South Sudan, 9 arrested

Law enforcement authorities in Bentiu Protection of Civilians site (PoC) in Unity State of South Sudan confirmed that two young men stabbed each other to death on Saturday, November 6.

The commander of the Joint Security Force in Bentiu POC, Colonel Manyang Tap Chol, told Radio Tamazuj that the deceased youths identified as Robert Gaynor and Gatmai Kuony had been having a feud since September when the former injured the latter during a fight.

"The two young men called each other when they met and they went alone carrying knives (Kokhav) to where there was no one to separate them,” Col. Tap said. “They fought and stabbed each other with knives and both died on Saturday.”

Following the incident, Col. Tap said the police initiated a raid on any persons found carrying knives or any form of weapons, in which nine youth were arrested.

He said the police and joint security force were deployed in all five sectors of the PoC with orders to arrest anyone found carrying a knife and to confiscate it and that the sanitation security group will help police in identifying gang members.

James Gatkuoi, the deputy commander of the joint security force in the Bentiu POC, confirmed the death of the two youth and said the knives they used were distributed to the internally displaced people in the PoC for personal use only.

"There are gangs called ‘niggas’ who fight themselves during dances using knives," Gatkuoi explained. “These knives were distributed to them by the UN for their personal use but now they are using them against themselves."