A boat carrying people and livestock was attacked on its way from Tanyier in Unity State to Jonglei State on Sunday, March 19.

Eight people died in the attack and nine were injured, who are now treated at the state hospital in Bor.

“At 5:00 AM, a boat of […] civilians from Nuer was attacked some miles away from Chuetakuet of Eastern Lakes State,” Abraham Ayom Bior, a police officer told Radio Tamazuj.

Bior said that the unknown attackers stopped the boat and then forced it to return to Nyiluel, an island in swampy area of Eastern Lakes State, where the attackers killed and injured the passengers.

According to Bior, the attackers got away with almost SSP 10 million, USD 21,000 and 38 heads of cattle. The governors of Jonglei and Eastern Lakes states are in contact trying to identify those responsible, Bior said.

The Jonglei State Boat Union Chairperson, John Mamer Agoot, said the incident adds to the existing challenges caused by insecurity, which he fears could have negative effects on the river transportation business.

With a road density of only 1.1 km per 100 square kilometres of land, river transport is critical in South Sudan, especially during the rainy season when roads – mostly unpaved – are compromised, according to a Nile Information System (Nile-IS) report.

A boat crossing the Nile at the Mingkaman Refugee Settlement on March 9, 2017. (Radio Tamazuj)