Two die and several injured in a bloody clash

A bloody clash between the youth of Ayomso and Akrodie, cocoa growing communities in the Asunafo South District of the Ahafo Region, killed two with several others sustaining gunshots and cutlass wounds.

Police say it was yet to identify the dead whose bodies had since been deposited at the Goaso government hospital.

But, Isaac Kyere, 26, David Kofi Marfo, 29, Kofi Abondona, 28, Gideon Oppong, 27, and another one only known as "inspector" are in critical condition, responding to treatment at the Goaso government hospital.

Others who sustained minor cutlass wounds have since been treated and discharged at the Akrodie clinic, while one of them who also sustained serious gunshot wounds was rushed to the Hwidiem St Elizabeth Hospital.

Chief Inspector Augustine Kingsley Oppong, the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Police Public Relations Officer who confirmed the story to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) said the police had since arrested one Afari Zidan, a timber merchant in the area believed to have masterminded the bloody clash.

According to him, the police was yet to unravel circumstances that led to the clash that happened around 1930 hours at the Ayomso Township.

But, preliminary investigations revealed that the incident happened as a result of a misunderstanding between some youth of the two communities over ownership of timber concession in the area.

The melee, however, degenerated into sporadic shootings between the two irate youth and affected relative peace in the area, but, Chief Inspector Oppong said calm had since returned in the town, while the police continued with investigations.