Two men and a woman were killed and one child injured in Aliny County in Ruweng Administrative Area by armed youth who allegedly came from Unity State over the weekend.
Several violent incidents and cattle raids have been reported since June between armed elements from Unity State and Ruweng Administrative Area.
Simon Chol, the newly appointed Minister of Information, Youth, and Sports in Ruweng Administrative Area, confirmed the killings of the two men and said it occurred while they attempted to recover the 700 head of cattle that had been raided by the assailants. He said the 50-year-old woman was killed and the child wounded during the raid in Aliny County.
“The armed youth from Unity State arrived in Aliny County at 11.45 p.m. on Saturday and they started collecting cattle from kraal to kraal and killed a 50-year-old woman and wounded a child,” he said. “We strongly condemn this action by the armed youth from Unity State who came and raided cattle, killed and injured people from Ruweng areas.”
According to Minister Chol, the wounded child is receiving treatment at Parieng Town Hospital.
A youth from Aliny County who refused to reveal his name told Radio Tamazuj that they managed to recover all 700 head of cattle that were rustled and returned them to the owners.
“All the 700 cattle were recovered from the raiders who came from the direction of Unity State although none of them was apprehended so we do not know exactly which county of Unity State that neighbors Ruweng they came from,” he stated.
For his part, David Gai, the Minister of Information and Telecommunications in Unity State, told this publication on Monday that they were aware of the incident and had directed security forces to arrest the criminals.
“We identified those who went and raided cattle from Ruweng they are a group of criminals from Rubkona and Mayom counties,” he revealed.