At least two children aged seven and nine are nursing gunshot wounds after they were shot at during an assassination attempt on Mayiendit County Commissioner’s life on Sunday night, Unity State officials said.
In an interview with Radio Tamazuj on Monday, Commissioner Dr. Gatluak Nyang, who survived the ordeal, confirmed that gunmen attacked his residence and sprayed bullets injuring the two children.
“They were 100 in number, and they were looking for me. They targeted me on Sunday night, spraying bullets at us and they did not hit me with any bullets. But they have wounded two small children of 7 and 9 years. On their side, only one person was wounded,” he added.
He claimed the attackers were youth from neighboring Leer County in Unity State who targeted him as they did not steal any cattle.
“They were not looking for cattle. They would have raided because there is a cattle camp nearby Mayiendit County. They would have attacked that cattle camp and raided cattle. This is what proved that they were not for cattle but targeting to kill me,” he stressed.
Commissioner Nyang added, “I have reported it to all the relevant authorities in Unity State and the national level.”
The director of police CID in Unity State Major General Martin Mayik confirmed the incident.
“The situation between Leer and Mayiandit counties is worsened. There is no freedom of movement on both sides, and security forces cannot access most areas because of insecurity and flooding,” he said.
According to him, youth from Leer County wanted to kill the commissioner over unsubstantiated claims that the commissioner had mobilized his youth to attack and kill people in Leer County last month.
“They attempted to kill him yesterday (Sunday) and he survived it. Now the government has deployed forces there but there are challenges in accessing the area with government vehicles because of too much flooding. The government security forces are supposed to go there but it is difficult because of floods,” he cautioned.
Attempts to reach Leer County authorities were futile.