A former member of parliament of the defunct Gok state legislative assembly says he has lost three relatives, including his brother, in a renewed violence following the killing of Cueibet director of prisons on Tuesday.

42-year-old Makol Mathiang was shot dead at around 7 PM while returning home from duty.

He had gone to visit inmates when he got attacked, 50 meters away from Mayath prison. Mathiang was a Major in the prisons service.

According to Machar Mourwel, a former MP in the defunct Gok state, the late Mathiag’s assailants’ attackers reportedly fled to their village.

On Wednesday, clashes reportedly erupted after members of the deceased family traced the suspects to their area.

Jok Ayom, who lost three relatives in the skirmishes, says the security situation in Cueibet County has worsened.

“People are killing themselves in this inter-communal conflict. My brother, my nephew, and my uncle’s father have been killed,” Ayom told Eye Radio.

The fighting has escalated to include four sections of Cueibet, namely; Duony, Ayiel, Waat-Adol and Mayath areas.

For his part, the deputy speaker of the defunct Gok state, Riak Matheen Riak, also confirmed the fighting.

“I don’t know what the situation will look like, because there is no intervention from the government. There is an absence of the army on the ground,” he said.

Communal fights have persisted in Lakes state despite an ongoing peaceful disarmament exercise declared by President Salva Kiir in August.

Officials say the exercise has not been effective in reducing the level of violence mainly fueled by revenge attacks, cattle raiding, and land disputes.

In October alone, the number of people killed fighting in Cueibet County was more than 11.

The fighting was triggered by killing of a woman in a night robbery in an area called Agang-rial.

The Human Rights Commission say the nature of the intercommunal conflicts has taken on an increasingly militarized character with military-style tactics and military-grade weapons.

Local leaders in Lakes state have been consistently calling for the forceful disarmament in the area to end the cycle of violence there.