At least 60 heads of cattle were raided from Kapoeta East County by suspected rustlers from Turkana County in Kenya over the weekend, an official has said.
Abdallah Lokeno, county commissioner for Kapoeta East, says the animals were raided in two separate incidents.
“Turkana tribesmen raided 40 heads of cattle on Friday. One person was killed from their side by Toposa kraal youth,” Lokeno told Singaita FM on Monday.
He, however, said the local youth managed to recover the animals.
On Saturday, the raiders from the neighboring country carried out another attack on a cattle camp in Nakodok, driving away 20 heads of cattle.
Leaders from the greater Kapoeta and Turkana have continually called for cross-border cooperation and development as means to end decades of conflicts between the two communities of South Sudan and Kenya.
Eastern Equatoria State Governor Louis Lobong last year blamed the persistent conflicts on the absence of health facilities, schools and joint business ventures between the two bordering communities.
In July 2022, the two communities during a peace dialogue agreed on several resolutions, including recovery and return of stolen animals, apprehension and punishment of suspects, unrestricted border crossing and sharing of water points.
“I told the authorities in Turkana County to bring back the raided cattle back because we have encouraged youth here to allow us to address the matter amicably,” the commissioner added.
The Radio Community was not able to immediately reach the Turkana County Authorities for a response.