About 109 head of cattle were stolen during a raid by armed men in Uror County of Jonglei state on Sunday, local officials said.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, Tang Chatim, the Uror County commissioner, said the incident occurred when the assailants attacked local youth who were herding the animals in the Waar area of the county’s Paluony Payam on Sunday afternoon.
“The attackers opened fire on youth while they grazed their animals. So, when the youth ran away, they took all the 109 cows,” he said.
He accused youth suspected to have come from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) of involvement in the raid.
Lt. Col. Gatbel Machar, the county police inspector, condemned the attack and said local youths have since Sunday pursued the raiders in a bid to recover the stolen animals.
For his part, Nyany Korok, a government official in Pibor, said they have yet to be informed by the Jonglei State counterpart about the incident.
Cattle raids are commonplace among the communities of Jonglei state and their GPAA counterparts.