Local authorities in Eastern Equatoria State’s Kapoeta East County have confirmed that over 1,500 head of cattle were stolen in the New Site Airstrip area during a raid that left four local youths injured on Tuesday.

Abdalla Angelo Lokeno, the area commissioner, accused Turkana tribesmen from neighboring Kenya of carrying out the attack and said local youths were still pursuing the rustlers.

The New Site area in Kapoeta East is historical because the deceased SPLM/A leader Dr. John Garang spent most of his time there during the 21-year liberation struggle.

Commissioner Lokeno accused the Government of Kenya of using cattle raids as a cover to invade and grab South Sudanese land.

“The bad thing with Kenya is that they claim New Site, Nadapal, Nakodo, Mogila Mountain, and Ilemi Triangle which encompasses all these places. Every time we take our cattle for grazing, they attack us and this is something unacceptable. Recently, we sat with them and all agreed that our cattle can graze and drink water together but they (Kenyans) did not take this agreement seriously,” he explained. “They attacked our kraals on 14 November and took between 1,500 and 2,00O head of cattle. Our youth are still following them and have not returned. Some cattle are still being found in the bushes. This incident happened in New Site where our late leader Dr. John Garang used to live.”

The Eastern Equatoria State Information Minister Elia John Ahaji strongly condemned the cattle raid by the Turkana.

“Those are international cross-border raids carried by the Dodoth of Uganda and the Turkana of Kenya against the people of Eastern Equatoria. This has been happening occasionally among the bordering communities and the state government has no control,” he stated. “The Government of Eastern Equatoria condemns those attacks in the strongest terms possible. The state government is therefore calling upon the national government to intervene in recovering the raided cattle since this is a national threat by neighboring Kenya and Uganda and it affects the livelihoods of the peoples of the state.”

“We are also appealing to the neighboring communities living along the borders of Eastern Equatoria in South Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda to remain calm but be vigilant, embrace peaceful coexistence, and discourage such brutal practices,” Minister Ahaji added.

On 7 November, three kraals were raided in Lotuke Payam in Budi County and 700 head of cattle rustled by a combined posse of Turkana from Kenya and Dodoth from Uganda.