( CNN ) -- South Sudan 's Council of Ministers has declared Jonglei state a `` humanitarian disaster area '' and called on international aid agencies to provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance . The declaration came Wednesday during a council meeting led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit , according to a posting Thursday on the government 's website . Government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the council asked that international relief agencies , including the United Nations , provide aid to the Lou Nuer and the Murle ethnic groups and to people in other affected areas in the state . Marial said the council had resolved to deploy more forces to guarantee security . He further reported that the council had resolved to establish a high-level committee to effect reconciliation between the Lou Nuer and Murle . South Sudan gains control of town . The council of ministers directed the two ethnic groups to return women and children from both sides who have been abducted and to reunite them with their communities , Marial said . The council said the national forces were in full control of Pibor , in Jonglei . The United Nations sent a battalion of peacekeepers to Pibor last week amid reports that members of the Lou Nuer tribe were marching toward the town , which is home to the Murle tribe , after attacking the village of Lukangol . In a statement posted Thursday by the independent News Agency of South Sudan , Marial was quoted as saying the Lou Nuer should vacate Murle territory so that the government can deliver relief services there . He appealed to the commissioners of Uror and Pibor counties to cooperate with the government to ensure the return of the abducted children and property of Lou Nuer and Murle communities . The London-based Minority Rights Group International , a nongovernmental organization , condemned the attacks between the Lou Nuer and the Murle and called on the government to protect citizens from all ethnic groups . `` Competition between ethnic groups over scarce resources has escalated in South Sudan , '' said Chris Chapman , MRG 's head of conflict prevention , in a statement posted on the group 's website . `` At the same time there is a security vacuum , leading to the formation of militia groups and a breakdown of traditional structures of authority . This will continue to threaten the stability of the new nation , unless the government acts quickly to ensure security , inclusive representation for all communities , and equitable access to land and natural resources . '' Ethnic tensions in the South Sudan state of Jonglei have flared as tribes fight over grazing lands and water rights , disagreements that have dissolved into cattle raids and abduction of women and children . Fighters first struck Pibor on Saturday , attacking a portion that was out of the reach of U.N. peacekeepers , said Col. Philip Auger of the South Sudan army . Benjamin said most of the Murle had fled when they heard the Lou Nuer were approaching . The nonprofit group Medecins sans Frontieres , also known as Doctors Without Borders , suspended its activities in Pibor County . The group 's clinic in Lukangol was `` burned and looted , '' spokeswoman Emily Linendoll said , adding that its Pibor clinic `` has been targeted . '' The attack on Pibor followed reports last week that Lou Nuer fighters raided Lukangol , burning it to the ground and forcing thousands to flee toward Pibor . At least 50,000 people have fled the violence in the state , said Quade Hermann , chief of radio at Radio Miraya , a U.N.-backed radio station in South Sudan . U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week urged the groups to work with the government of South Sudan to find solutions . The violence in Jonglei state is the latest to rock South Sudan , which officially gained its statehood in July after separating from the north . South Sudanese celebrate birth of their nation . `` The attacks , which on the face of it appear to be cattle raids , have deeper underlying causes related to poverty , competition for scarce resources , the ubiquity of small arms left over from a decades-long war and marginalization of ethnic minorities , '' said MRG 's Chapman . `` In addition , the conflict between the Lou Nuer and Murle is taking on a dynamic of repeated revenge attacks , highlighting the need for the government to take urgent action to protect innocent civilians . '' According to MRG 's 2011 research , some groups feel that they are not represented by the political system , and that resources have been diverted to more populous ethnic groups , leaving them poorer with unreliable access to land and resources .
South Sudan 's Council of Ministers calls for humanitarian aid . At least 50,000 people have reportedly fled violence in the state . Competition over scarce resources continues . The troubled nation became independent in July .