An armed herder tends to cattle in unidentified place in South Sudan | Credit | Courtesy
At least nine people were killed and seven children abducted during a cattle raid on Sunday in Macabol village of Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).
Local authorities also reported that more than 300 head of
cattle were stolen during the attack.
According to Nyinginga Okanikirro, Minister for Information
and Postal Services in GPAA, the attackers burned down an entire village,
leaving many residents displaced and property destroyed.
“The whole village is burnt down, and as we all know, the
prosperities are kept in the tukuls. And as the whole area is burnt, there must
be other prosperities that have been burnt as well,” Okanikirro said.
The exact number of houses and property lost is yet to be
verified, but the minister said a team has been assigned to assess the damage.
He accused youth from neighboring Jonglei State of
orchestrating the raid, escalating already fragile relations between the two areas.
However, Jonglei State officials have rejected the
accusation. Hoth Dual, Jonglei's Minister for Local Government, denied any
involvement by youth from his state but acknowledged the seriousness of the
violence.
“My advice to young people, to people of Jonglei and GPAA in
partyicular. They must know that there would be no peace, and there would be no
food for taking someone’s property like those cattle that are taken and taking
someone’s child. You are abusing the identity of the child as the people of Jonglei
and GPAA,” Dual stated.
“We will work very hard as the government to hold down such
activities. They must refrain from such criminality.”
Authorities have not confirmed the identity of the raiders,
and investigations are ongoing. The attack is the latest in a series of cattle-related
conflicts that continue to plague South Sudan's rural communities.