The local authorities in Warrap State’s Tonj East County on Friday said armed men believed to be from the Luachjang Section opened gunfire on the night of Christmas Eve and injured six people in Ngap-Aneet village.
According to area Police Inspector Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) Deng Madut, five people were shot in the market while one of the attackers was shot in revenge by a relative of one of the wounded people.
“On Tuesday night at around 8 o’clock local time, armed youth attacked people in Nap-Aneet Market in Ngap-Agook Payam of the Akok Section and seriously wounded five people, and another person was also wounded in retaliation from the attacker’s side,” he explained. “However, five of the wounded are doing well at the health center. The shooters were not properly identified but the security situation has been calm, especially on Thursday and Friday.”
RSM Madut added: “The problem we have in Tonj East County is that the three communities of Luachjang, Akok Deng Achuil, and Thiik have running conflicts among themselves which often become violent, so, nobody can identify where the attackers came from, however, the incident happened in the area of the Akok Section and we do not have enough forces to investigate it.”
He said armed youth were spotted moving from Pahol Payam in Luacjang before the incident and the people of Akok accused the Luachjang Section of the market attack.
Meanwhile, Makur Duol, the Tonj East County commissioner, confirmed the shooting incident but said the security situation is relatively stable.
“There was a shooting in Nap-Aneet Market in Nap-Agook Payam where six people were wounded. People were celebrating in the market when unknown gunmen came at night and started shooting at them. The good thing is that none of them died and the wounded are admitted at Nap-Aneet Health Center,” he said. “The culprits have not yet been identified but the proliferation of arms is too much in Tonj East County. Investigations are ongoing. The incident happened at night and nobody immediately followed the attackers. However, the security situation in the county is calm as of now.”