South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dismissed his long-serving spy chief Gen Akol Koor Kuc, according to media reports.

Gen Kuc became head of the country’s National Security Services (NSS) after independence in 2011. No reason was given in the presidential decree broadcast on South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), on Wednesday night, announcing his removal, but he was made governor of the president’s home state of Warrup, where insecurity is rife, the BBC reports.

In the decree, President Kiir appointed Akec Tong Aleu as the new Director General of the Internal Security Bureau of NSS, after being promoted to the rank of Lt. Gen. from Major General.

Warrup State which still sees fighting between rival ethnic communities despite the 2018 peace agreement to end the civil war in the country is one of South Sudan’s conflict hotspots.