Officials in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) said 11 civilians who left for the Jonglei State capital, Bor town to sell cattle were killed in a revenge attack over the weekend.
Jay Adingora Alual, the GPAA information minister, told Radio Tamazuj that the incident took place in the town of Bor on Friday afternoon and continued until Saturday.
“The incident happened yesterday (Friday) when our youth who were selling their cattle and some of them who were buying items in the market were attacked by the youth of Bor within Bor town,” Adingora explained. “As of yesterday, seven were killed on the spot and today four more people were killed.”
Adingora, who also serves as the GPAA government mouthpiece, condemned the ‘targeted killing’ and called for the culprits to be arrested.
“The rumor we heard was that these people were killed as a revenge for two people killed in Anyidi. It is unfortunate that people are killed within the town for crimes of which we can not accept or deny if they were done by Murle youth. So we want our sisterly state, Jonglei to investigate this,” he stressed.
Judi Jonglei, a GPAA lawmaker, and prominent Murle elder called on the Jonglei and national governments to intervene, expressing concerns that the situation could escalate if those involved in the killings are not arrested.
For her part, Veronica William, Jonglei state information minister, said: “What I heard was that two people were killed in the side of Anyidi yesterday (Friday). About 11 people were killed in Bor, I am not aware if it might have happened because I just returned from Juba.”
Several attempts by Radio Tamazuj to reach out to the Jonglei State Governor Denay Jock Chagor, state police commissioner Joseph Mayen and Bor County commissioner Yuot Alier were futile.