One township official was dismissed Tuesday for the village clashes which left one dead and nine injured last week in south China's Hainan Province, local authorities said Wednesday.

Qin Guohua, chief of Gancheng Township Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), was removed from his post for a series of clashes between March 23 and 25, said Wang Heshan, chief of the CPC committee of Dongfang City, which administers Gancheng.

The city's CPC committee also proposed that the township people's congress dismiss Wu Kaiqiang, head of the township government.

There have been frequent brawls between residents of Gancheng Village and Baoshang Village -- each with a population of about 10,000. Both sides were unhappy with the failure of local government and police to maintain public security.

Hundreds of residents smashed vehicles and set fire to the government building and police station in Gancheng Township on March 23. In the following two days, residents from the two villages fought, forcing the provincial public security department to send more than 1,000 policemen to control the situation.

Yang Bin, head of Gancheng Township police station, and his deputy Fang Xiaohong, were dismissed last Tuesday. They were being investigated.

(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2009)