Religious Clash in West Gonja

A contingent of armed soldiers and police have been dispatched to the West Gonja district, to maintain law and order after a religious clash that led to death of two people.

Many others were injured in the clash between the Al Suna and Tijanniya Muslim sects at Kpanduso. Eighty-eight houses including a Mosque were burnt down, and property worth several millions of cedis also destroyed.

According to the police, a quantity of arms and ammunitions were found in the palace of the chief of Mpaha, which suggests that he abetted the rioting. The chief and forty-three others have been arrested.

The police are yet to determine the immediate cause of the conflict, but the West Gonja District Chief Executive Zakaria Yakubu claims that the Tijanniya attacked and killed an Al Suna Muslim, who had visited a mosque the Al Sunas were constructing at Kpanbuso.

According to him, the Tijanniya from Mpaha moved to Kpanbuso to assist their colleagues to attack the Al Sunas.

Mr. Yakubu who was speaking to the Ghana News Agency said, there was a free-for-all fight during which one other person was killed and several others injured.

Latest reports say, the town is calm after the arrival of the armed security force. Inhabitants who fled the area in the wake of the conflict are returning.