A child in a cattle camp in South Sudan. Cattle are a major cause of conflict among pastoralist communities in the country | Credit | Courtesy
At least five
people have been shot dead in separate cattle-related attacks in Tonj North
County, Warrap State.
The police say
it occurred at Mabior Ngaap and Thou villages on Sunday.
“The first
fighting occurred yesterday at Mabior village where the attackers killed three
herders, and proceeded to Thou village where they shot dead one person,” said Col.
Bak Anei Ayei, chief inspector of police in the county.
He identified
the deceased as Kuot Atem Malueth,38; Bol Wol Aguir, 35; Aleu Thiep Ayook,31;
and Akot Akech Akot,35.
The fifth deceased person was one of the cattle raiders.
Officials said the raiders came from the neighboring Mayom County in Unity State. Mayardit FM's attempt to reach authorities in Unity for comment were not immediately successfully due to poor network covearge.
There have been reports of similar attacks in Warrap State over the past two years.
In February, suspected cattle raiders killed ten people, and injured eleven others in Gogrial East County. They also drove away over 1,000 heads of cattle from the area.