A 12-year-old boy, Deng Dau Akoi, was abducted and another boy, 13-year-old Maketh Garang, was shot and killed during an attack by a group of armed men at a water point in Mangalla town, Central Equatoria State over the weekend, local officials have said.
The chairman of the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) Camp where the incident took place, Atem Akuoch Miot told Radio Tamazuj that the two boys, members of the displaced community from Bor, went to fetch water from a nearby water point in the area on Saturday afternoon.
“While those boys were at the water point to collect water, a group of six armed men attacked them on Saturday at noon,” Atem said. “A 12-year-old boy called Deng Dau Akoi was abducted while the other 13-year-old, Maketh Garang, was shot and killed on the spot as he tried to escape.”
No arrests have been made but the community leader blamed the attack on bandits from the Pibor area.
“We want security forces to be deployed in the area. We are not protected and armed Murle youth were spotted around the area with their cows. After the incident, we tried to pursue those Murle criminals but we could not find them,” Atem said.
Joseph Mayen Akoon, the Jonglei police commissioner, confirmed the attack, abduction, and killing.
“Those in Mangalla are our people. Over the last two days, a child was killed and the other was abducted. The children are from the Kongoor community. We did not get details till now because the area is not under our jurisdiction,” Mayen said.
David Ngero, the external affairs secretary for Boma Youth Union, denied Murle youth involvement in the attack.
“Our youth were not involved in anything as such. They accuse us so that we are portrayed as being against peace. We have a committee, if there is anything like that then it should have been reported to the committee,” Ngero said.