Fresh violence has claimed five lives and left five others injured in Gbenyiri and surrounding communities in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region, just days after the government received a mediation report aimed at bringing lasting peace to the conflict-prone area.
The clashes pitted local residents against herdsmen, with two of the dead already buried in Sawla and the remaining three bodies deposited at the morgue of the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District Hospital. The injured are receiving treatment at various health facilities across the district.
Casualty figures initially appeared lower, with two bodies first reported at a health facility on March 6 and one injured person receiving treatment. Subsequent checks with hospital authorities and community leaders revealed additional bodies in nearby communities, bringing the confirmed death toll to five.
District Chief Executive for Sawla-Tuna-Kalba, Senitina Saaka, confirmed the incident and said the violence was believed to have been triggered by a robbery attack, with relatives of the victim launching reprisal strikes against herdsmen accused of involvement. He stressed that the current outbreak is not directly connected to the earlier communal conflict in the area.
The renewed violence comes at a particularly sensitive moment. Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak received the final report of the Gbenyiri Mediation Committee on February 28, just days before the current clashes erupted. The seven-member committee, led by conflict resolution expert Emmanuel Bombande and established in September 2025, was tasked with fostering cooperation and peaceful coexistence between the Lobi/Birifors and Gonja communities.
The Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has intervened, deploying a combined team of police and military personnel to the area. Investigations are underway and the situation is being monitored by authorities.
The district has experienced devastating violence since August 2025, when clashes over a land dispute killed more than 31 people, displaced over 48,000 residents, and forced thousands to seek refuge across the borders into Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire. A curfew was imposed and later eased before the new mediation process began.
