"children, women, and elderly, who were burned because they couldn't escape."

Eight soldiers were among the eighteen persons who were slaughtered or burnt to death in South Sudan's Western Bahr el Gazal state by armed assailants from a neighboring state, the state's acting governor announced on Tuesday.

Arkenjelo Anyar Anyar said that following a disagreement over land rights, armed teenagers from the neighboring Warrap state set fire to a small market, homes, and a police station in Tharkueng Payam.

Around 2,000 people were left homeless or displaced, he claimed, and the 10 deceased civilians included "children, women, and elderly, who were burned because they couldn't escape."

Violence broke out between competing groups of livestock herders in South Sudan's Warrap and Lake states last Wednesday, leaving thirty-nine people dead and scores more injured.

Despite having significant oil deposits, South Sudan is one of the world's poorest nations. It has faced frequent natural catastrophes, starvation, economic collapse, and intercommunal strife. It has also been at war for about half of its existence.

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