At least five police officers have been confirmed dead and six others wounded while attempting to rescue over five hundred herds of cattle from raiders in Yirol West County of Lakes State on Tuesday.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj today, the police spokesman captain Elijah Mabor Makuac said the cattle raid incident occurred in Majima cattle camp on Tuesday evening.

"It was yesterday when we sent a police force to rescue raided cattle from the raiders. When our forces reached a place called Lokgii-chul they fell in an ambush where three police officers were killed on the spot and six wounded," he said.

One other policeman died at the Mapuordit hospital while being treated and yet another one was found dead, Mabor noted. He added that the wounded are receiving treatment at the Mapuordit hospital while those with severe injuries were taken to Rumbek hospital.

"We have again sent another reinforcement police force to Paloch to rescue the raided cattle by all means. All those raided cattle must be returned to the rightful owners," he stressed. 

The secretary-general of the defunct Eastern Lakes State Barnaba Mayor Deng said that the raiders are suspected to be from Amongpiny and Paloch payams.

"We suspect that these raiders are from Amongpiny and Paloch payams of Rumbek Centre and Rumbek East Counties. They have emptied all the camps," he claimed. 

Mayor appealed to authorities in Paloch and Amongpiny Payam of greater Rumbek to return the raided cattle to their rightful owners.

The executive director of Yirol West county Dhuor Apiu said the raiders took all the cattle from the cattle camps leaving the people especially the elderly and the children without food or milk.

According to him, 526 cattle were stolen during the raid.