At least four people were killed and one injured when armed men clashed with Iloli youth of Hiyalla Payam in Torit County on Wednesday, officials say.
Torit county commissioner Andrew Philipson told Radio Tamazuj, “The incident happened between Iloli of Hiyalla Payam, it is exactly on the 23rd June 2021. These people collided and clashed so three people from Iloli and one from Oguruny died, one got injured. During the incident, we didn’t get an opportunity to rush to the scene to collect the injured but on Thursday we sent an ambulance to bring the injured currently at the hospital," Philipson explained.
Phillipson urged the people of Torit East County to desist from violence and promote peace and harmony.
According to him, the Iloli community accuse the neighboring villages of Oguruny, Ilieu, Hiyalla, and Tirangore of joining forces and attacking them.
Sisto Ofere the Boma chief of Iloli village says the armed men had the intention to raid cattle but were unsuccessful.
“These people came intending to raid cattle. I was even on duty herding cattle and in the process we found their footsteps as they were planning heavily but we returned the cattle quickly to the village. They came after us so I informed Monyiemiji(youth) about the presence of enemies at the outskirts of the village so the Monyiemiji ran to confirm but were ambushed and one got killed and one injured," he said.
Hiyalla Chief John Oromo denied the involvement of his community members in the attack.
“We the people of Hiyalla did not reach there, we did not get any accusation since yesterday. We just heard the sound of the guns that side but our cattle did not graze there," he claimed.
Meanwhile, Sanabio Tiyya, the Chief of Tirangore said he was aware of the incident but also refuted that youth from his village were involved in the deadly attack.
“I know this incident but Tirangore was not there, we have Hiyalla, Loguruny, and Ilieu. It was three villages that attacked but Tirangore did not go maybe there are criminals like two but I did not know," he said.
Tiyya urged the urges youth to stop unnecessary attacks in the region.
Attempts to reach some of the other villages implicated in the attack were unsuccessful.