Two Sudanese traders were on Saturday killed near a National Security Service outpost in South Sudan’s Lakes State, police said.

The incident occurred in the town of Rumbek.

Brig. Gen. Majak Alapayo Ador, the area chief police inspector, said Abdu Zechariah Yaku and Khamis Harun Dahab hailed from Darfur.

"The two traders were traveling from Rumbek East County to buy some goods and other business items from Rumbek market for sale in Thou-Aduel,” Alapayo told Radio Tamazuj.

According to the police officer, Zechariah was carrying over 2 million SSP while Khamis possessed 70,000 SSP.

"Those criminals killed the two traders near a National Security outpost and when security forces opened fire on them, they ran into the bush leaving behind all the belongings of the two victims. None of the criminals was wounded,” he said.

Majak warned road users against traveling during late hours. "Road ambushes are increasing. There is a need for travellers to wait for the right time of traveling, starting from 9:00-10:00 am to reduce risks of being ambushed by gunmen,” he said.