8-year-old boy shoots dead 5-year-old girl in Turalei

A small boy reportedly shot dead a five-year-old child and injured another in Turalei in Twic County, Warrap State, on Sunday.

Officials say the eight-year-old boy, whose name cannot be mentioned, stopped two little sisters who were coming back from a nearby forest where they had gone to pick wild fruits.

He then alleged to have cocked the gun, an AK-47, and shot Nyakat Wol Agant, 5, in the head – killing her instantly. He went ahead and shot another child in the chest, leaving her badly injured.

“The injured has been taken to an MSF hospital in Mayen Abun,” said Manut Makuch, administrator of Ayien Amuol boma.

The gun is said to belong to the suspect’s uncle, who was not at home at the time juvenile picked the gun from a store. The gun owner is currently being held over the incident.

Makuch went on to call upon parents of the victims to remain calm as the authorities look into the matter.

Decades of conflict in South Sudan has led to the widespread proliferation of small arms throughout the population that are often used to settle disputes and continue to threaten the safety of communities and limit wider socio-economic development.

The deliberate arming of Southern communities during the first and second civil wars and the continuation of both authorized and covert conventional weapons transfers to Juba; illicit cross-border trafficking; and proxy arming of rebel groups by external actors has been extensively documented but not illuminated the scale of civilian stockpile, according to a small arms assessment report.