One person was killed and three policemen were injured in Ngauro village in Budi County in Eastern Equatoria State on Thursday during clashes that resulted from a cattle raid, officials said.

The clashes occurred after armed youth suspected to be from Ngauro village raided cattle from the Namurunyang area in Kapoeta South County. The owners of the cattle then tracked them and in the process gunned down a civilian who was collecting firewood. The police, on hearing gunshots, intervened to investigate the shooting but ended up clashing with the armed youth from Namurunyang.

Alfred Odong, the executive director of Budi County confirmed the fighting which he said occurred on the outskirts of Ngauro Village on Thursday evening following a cattle raid.

“Some Didinga youth from Budi County went to Toposa areas and stole cattle and were followed by armed Toposa youth who followed the tracks of the stolen cattle up to the Didinga Mountains but failed to get the cows,” he said. “They (Toposa) found some people collecting firewood in the bushes near Ngauro and killed one of them. Police officers, after hearing gunshots, rushed to investigate the shooting and that is how some policemen were also injured.”

Meanwhile, Joseph Lokodo Cholombo, a member of the Eastern Equatoria State parliament representing Budi County, condemned the attack, saying it spoils relations between neighboring communities.

“On Thursday an incident happened in Ngauro in which one person from Didinga Ngauro was killed by Toposa youth. This incident is very unfortunate and we need the state government to send a peace and justice mission to Ngauro immediately,” he said. “We have to share resources, water, and grazing land and this should not cause conflict between us. We have a traditional relationship between the Didinga and Toposa and during the dry season like now, the Toposa youth from Karenga, specifically Namurunyang and Napotpot, drive their animals towards the Didinga Hills and graze along Ngauro valley.”

“This is a traditional practice that we inherited and has always led to peaceful co-existence between the two communities,” he added.

On his part, Peter Lokeng Lotone, the state’s minister of local government and law enforcement agencies, said three police officers were injured in the line of duty.

“Three policemen were injured when they responded to gunshots in that incident in Ngauro.  We need the communities to understand what peace is and that it is for their good, even those cattle rustlers,” he said. “We will form a peace mission to go and look into those issues.”

Attempts to reach Kapoeta South authorities for comment were futile.

The youths from the two neighboring counties of Budi and Kapoeta South have severally counter-accused each other of cattle raids.