The governor of South Sudan’s Lol State has survived an assassination attempt when gunmen attacked his convoy on Thursday, according to a local government official.

Omar Ishag, Mayor of Raja town, told Radio Tamazuj yesterday that Governor Rizig Zachariah Hassan was attacked by gunmen at Dambara area, located about 20 kilometres away from Raja town.

He pointed out that the governor was going to his farm when his convoy came under attack by the gunmen. “What happened is that on 28 December around 11:00 am, the governor went to visit his farm, so on his way, he was ambushed by loyalists of Riek Machar who are around the town,” said Omar.

According to the official, none of the governor’s security guards was hurt, but the vehicles used during the trip sustained bullets. Nobody claimed responsibility for the ambush so far.

 In June last year, Governor Rizig narrowly survived an attempt on his life when gunmen affiliated to the armed opposition group attacked Raja town.