Two people sustained gunshot wounds and two children were abducted in a road ambush in Nyirol County in Jonglei state on Thursday, local officials said.
The Nyirol County commissioner, James Bol Makuey, told Radio Tamazuj that the victims were attacked while on the way to attend a marriage ceremony in Waat Payam.
“Yesterday (Thursday) we had people going for a wedding in Rim Boma in Waat Payam from Langkien town but before they could reach, they were attacked,” he explained. “A man and a woman were injured and two children aged 10 and 5 were abducted.”
Commissioner Bol accused armed Murle youth from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) of carrying out the attack.
John Deng, the Uror County police inspector, also confirmed the attack and said that the suspects are still at large.
On his part, Joseph Lelimoy, the GPAA information minister, said they were notified of the incident and that an investigation will be launched to find out if youths from Pibor were involved.
“The problem is that communication in some of these areas is very poor. The Jonglei State information minister informed me about the incident but I told him I had no information about it,” he said. “When something like this happens, it is normally done by a few criminals and not a big group. The good thing is that the commissioners of Akobo, Likuangule, and Uror counties are in communication and the criminals will be traced.”