Osman Mohamed, the deputy commissioner for Somalia's Yaqshid district, told CNN about the deaths among those who drank from the newly constructed well. More than 150 people who had water from that well were recently hospitalized.

Hawo Abdi, a mother of four, told CNN that her 8-year-old child is among those who died after drinking the contaminated water.

While access to drinkable water has improved in recent years, it still remains a major and sometimes deadly problem in some places.

That's especially true in parts of Africa, and even more so in Somalia, which has some of the lowest rates of water coverage in the world.  

The United Nations reports that 115 people die every hour in Africa from diseases linked to inferior sanitation, poor hygiene and contaminated water.

Of course, available quality drinking water is just one of several pressing issues in Somalia. The country is also dealing with persistent violence, much of it linked to the militant group Al-Shabaab.

It was not immediately clear how the water that led to the recent deaths got contaminated, including whether anyone or any group might be responsible.

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Ahmed el Tilemsi was the military head and co-founder of a jihadist group called the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, one of several jihadist groups active in the region.

The U.S. government designated el Tilemsi a terrorist in December 2012 and offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to him.

He was killed Wednesday night in a French military operation, which was coordinated with Malian forces, in the Gao region in Mali, French military officials said.

"One of the things that proves he was a senior chief (in the group) is that when he got killed ... he was accompanied by a dozen (fighters) who were also ensuring his security," French Defense Ministry spokesman Sacha Mandel said.

About 10 suspected terrorists were "neutralized" -- which means killed or taken captive, according to the French military -- in the same operation, said Col. Gilles Jaron, another French military spokesman. Mali is a former French colony.

According to the U.S. State Department, el Tilemsi was among the militants who in September 2011 broke off from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb -- another terrorist group -- to form the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa.

A month later, the group, also known as MUJWA, abducted three aid workers from a refugee camp in western Algeria. The U.S. government blames the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa for an attack on a police base in Tamanrasset, Algeria, and another in Ouargla, Algeria, as well as the kidnapping of seven Algerian diplomats -- incidents that all occurred in 2012.

The State Department described el Tilemsi, a Malian born in 1977, as MUJWA's military chief, adding that he directly took part in the October 2011 kidnappings in western Algeria.

Before that, as a member of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, he took part in the abduction of two French nationals in the Niger city of Niamey, the U.S. government said.

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That was two years ago, after the world's youngest country split from its northern nemesis, Sudan.

"I remember the look on people's faces," Bucciarelli said. "Tired but happy, hopeful for a better future after a past full of pain and war."

His return in February was anything but.

This time, Bucciarelli found a nation on the brink of an abyss. Instead of jubilant faces of hope, he saw defeated faces haunted by a return of ghosts of past wars.

Months of ethnic violence had left thousands dead, 1.5 million people displaced and a looming famine, according to the United Nations.

Bucciarelli found despair cramped in tent camps, growing sexual violence and the recruitment of child soldiers.

He described the violence in South Sudan as an "invisible" conflict.

"It represents one of the longest and most forgotten African wars," he said. "Its apparent stillness leads to hear about it less and less. Given the tragic consequences and repercussions on the population, I find it essential to bring it to light."

His goal, he said, is to tell the stories of people rendered powerless by wars, provide objective images and shed light on human rights issues.

"It's hard to find front-line war photography of the kind we've seen in Libya or Syria," Bucciarelli said. "The images in South Sudan are different. They describe visually the effect of the impending war, lending you a view of the civilian and military populations and providing a glimpse of life inside a murky, not clearly defined conflict."

The latest conflict erupted in December last year, when President Salva Kiir accused his fired deputy, Riek Machar, of an attempted coup. Since then, militia loyal to both have battled each other and targeted civilians from rival tribes.

The conflict has wiped out entire neighborhoods and transformed into a full-blown war between two large tribes, the Nuer and the Dinka. Machar belongs to the Nuer community, while the President is a Dinka.

Bucciarelli's pictures provide a rare window into a civilian population under siege.

"South Sudan's war represents one of the longest and most forgotten African conflicts," he said. "Its tragic consequences are quietly fading away from the headlines, making these pictures even more crucial."

South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 as part of a peace deal that ended decades of war in Africa's largest nation. That war left 2 million people dead and ended with the peace agreement that included an independence referendum for the south.

The recent clashes have been a major setback for a country so desperate for a new start.

Instead of relishing its independence, residents of areas such as Bentiu, Bor, Nyang and Mingkaman are struggling to survive as communities turn against one another.

Concerned neighboring nations have stepped in and urged warring parties to sign ceasefire deals, but the weapons have not gone quiet.

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