A thwarted cattle raid in a village in Jonglei State’s Nyiro County resulted in the killing of an executive chief and one of his charges on Friday.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj at the weekend, Nyirol County Commissioner James Bol Makuey said Chief Tut You Yak of the Yakuac Boma area and another man were killed while trying to fight off assailants who had raided their cattle on Friday afternoon.
He said the confrontation with the rustlers suspected to have come from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) also resulted in the injury of two local youths.
“On Friday afternoon, Murle criminals from Greater Pibor attacked a cattle camp in Yakuac Boma of Chuil Payam, killing an executive chief and herdsman while two others were wounded,” Biel explained. “Those killed were trying to recover a herd of cattle initially raided by the attackers but that was later recovered when our youth got reinforcements.”
He added: “All the raided cattle were recovered and the attacking Murle youth were repulsed leaving five people dead.”
On his part, Biel Jiek Lual, the Nyirol County information director, condemned the attack as a breach of commitment to peaceful coexistence between Greater Pibor and Jonglei State. He urged the GPAA government to hold accountable those responsible for the attacks.
Efforts to reach GPAA Information Minister Oleyo Akwer Nyalus were futile.
Cattle raids have been commonplace among the neighboring communities of Jonglei State and GPAA and the vice often results in killings and abductions. Despite a series of peace initiatives to pacify the rival communities recently, inter-communal violence seems to be escalating since last week.