The head of the Jieng (Dinka) Council of Elders has protested and condemned the roadside ambush attack in which up to 21 people have been confirmed dead after a convoy of the commercial vehicles in which they were traveling fell into ambush laid by gunmen on Saturday morning.
The vehicles carrying over 200 passengers were stopped at Ganyi, an area between Lainya and Juba, forcing some of the passengers to flee into the bush for safety after the vehicles were forced to stop at gunpoint. The gunmen, according to survivor accounts, then started separating people on the basis of their ethnicity from others by asking people whether there were members of ethnic Dinka or not.
They then executed all ethnic Dinka, including women and children before setting one vehicle ablaze. The identity of the group remains unclear and no group has come out to claim the responsibility. Government officials and military officers are keen to hold dissident armed youth in the area allied to the first vice president, Riek Machar, as responsible for the attack and asked regional support to designate the group as negative force to be jointly combatted and deny their leaders safe haven in the region.
The attack has drawn mixed reactions and community leadership, politicians, groups and activists expressed their outrage on Sunday at burial site in Juba, a day after the attack claimed at least 21 lives. Reacting to the incident, Ambrose Riiny Thiik, head of the self-appointed tribal group described the attack as “despicable act” that “did not value the life of innocent people”.
“The council certainly extends heartfelt condolences to the family of this cowardice and barbaric act and declared that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them”, said Ambrose when reached on Sunday.
He claimed he received testimonies from survivors that people related to the victims of Juba-Yei road carnage have given accounts that 15 children, 5 women and 1 man have died and 20 others wounded. Suzanne Jambo, former secretary for external affairs at the national secretariat of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement faction allied to President Salva Kiir regretted the incident.
Jambo claimed the attack was carried out by “anti-peace elements” to provoke revenge attack from ethnic Dinka.
“We condemn these ethnic killings of Dinka in certain parts of Equatoria. It is targeted to have effect on Dinka to revenge. And if Dinka revenge, there shall be no South Sudan. Junubin please let’s wake up & stop these brutal killings. Time for the government to act now”, stressed Jambo.