At least five people were reported dead, nine injured in weekend attack at Maper Payam of Rumbek North in Lakes state. It was allegedly carried out by armed youth from neighboring Warrap state.
Official says the incident was triggered by cattle rustling and accused youth from neighboring states of attacking county headquarters and burning homes.
Elijah Mabor Makuach is the police spokesperson in Lakes state. He says the people who lost their lives include a police officer and four civilians at Maper county headquarter that came under attack.
He says those wounded have been transferred to Rumbek hospital to receive treatment.
Mabor said an unknown number of houses burned down and forcing civilians to flee from the area.
He added that they would coordinate with their counterpart from Warrap to help identify the culprits and bring them to face justice.
Hon. Ring Deng Ading is the minister of information in Warrap state. He says his government is aware of the incident and will work with authority in Lakes to arrest the perpetrators.
Deng says they have ordered the cattle keepers at the border with Lake’s state to leave the area to ease tension between the two neighboring communities.
Athum Achol Geu is the deputy chairperson of the Relief Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) in Lakes. He says he received reports of fighting that have caused some families to flee in Aloor, Maper, and Madol.
Achol says the humanitarian partners from inter-cluster working groups plan to visit the area and assess the affected families.
“We receive an incident report from our RRC coordinator in the county, and we call the inter-cluster, and we will go on the ground tomorrow to assess the affected population.”
He says the assessment will help them know the number of households that have been affected and those who fled the area.