Clashes between soldiers & civilians leave 127 dead in S. Sudan, army says

Clashes between soldiers and civilians during a disarmament exercise in the central South Sudanese town of Tonj have left 127 dead, an army spokesman said Wednesday.

The fighting erupted on Saturday as security forces carried out an operation to disarm civilians in the area, which has seen deadly inter-communal clashes, Major General Lul Ruai Koang told the AFP news agency.

More than six years after a civil war broke out in the country, and in the absence of a functioning government, many communities have a stockpile of weapons that they keep for protection or defense against cattle raids.

The violence in Tonj began after several armed youths got into a disagreement with soldiers.