Weereh cattle camp in Jalle Payam, Bor County was attacked by armed raiders on Thursday morning resulting in fighting that left many dead from both soldiers and civilians. The attackers allegedly used machine guns and caused people to scatter into the bush in fear owing to the heavy gunfire.

Armed youths in the area resisted the attack and tried to recover the stolen cattle with the help of SPLA soldiers. The fighting reportedly continued until Thursday evening.

Local officials have given conflicting figures for the total death toll. County Commissioner Mamer Ruk told Eye Radio that the dead include at least seven soldiers and twelve civilians for a total of 19 people killed or more. He said that the toll could be higher. The attack happened in a remote place and some of the dead may not have been found yet. None of injured have yet been taken to the hospital in either Bor or Juba owing to poor communications and transportation between the town and the scene of the fighting.

The camp located between Jalle Payam and Maar Payam was hosting the Juet cattle keepers who had earlier refused to relocate their cows to the wetlands as suggested by their mates in Gok section of Bor.

A resident in Bor town who keeps contact with the cattle keepers in Weereh said that many cattle were lost in the raid. “I have heard that half of the cattle camp has been taken but the our youths are fighting hard to recover the cows, they came in huge numbers and they are not enough youth to defend the cows even before,” he said.

Local authorities have said that they suspect Murle youths of having carried out the raid.

Reaction from Pibor authorities

The Greater Pibor Area Administration has denied responsibility for the cattle raid in Jalle Payam. Sam David, GPAA Information Minister told Radio Tamazuj today that they have not yet received any information from the authorities in Bor about the cattle raid conducted by suspected Murle youths.

“We don't have information here in Boma State and I want to asked from Greater Bor or Jonglei State on how do they know that the attackers are from Murle from Pibor who raided cattle in Jalle Payam? We here don't have information about Murle going to attack Bor County but what we know is that suspected youths from Bor County on 20 October raided some 25 cattle from Kubol County at Machabol in Greater Pibor Administrative Area.”

“If so how did they know it is Murle that attacked, did they kill some of the raiders to identify them through their tribal marks as from Murle? Because forest has many criminals,” he said.

The GPAA official disclosed that this morning he called the commissioner of Kubol County bordering Bor because he heard through media that Murle attacked Bor and the commissioner told told him that he does not know anything about criminals who left to Bor and he did received any information from Bor authority about it.

Sam pointed out that the two governments had previously agreed to discuss with each other anything happening at the border like cattle raiding and child abduction. “Then we need to sit and see how we should solve the issue but as spokesperson I condemned the allegations,” he said.