At least 25 people have been killed and up to 17 others sustained injuries while 2100 herds of cattle were stolen in a series of attacks carried out by gunmen in Jonglei state, according to authorities.
The identity of the groups remains unclear and no group has come out to claim the responsibility for the act. Local officials and area member of parliament are keen to associate the group to an armed faction of the Sudan People’s liberation In opposition (SPLM-IO) loyal to armed opposition leader Riek Machar.
Former Jonglei governor and the current chairperson of foreign affairs committee at transitional national legislative assembly in Juba in an interview on Friday claimed that he had received reports from local authorities and natives that gunmen coming from the areas under group loyal to Machar had launched a series of attacks between Nov. 11 and 19, killing at least 25 and injuring 17 others in Duk County.
The attackers, according to Phillip Thon Leek, also drove away 2,100 cattle and displaced more than 50,000 civilians from 35 rural villages since October.
“As I am talking to you, I am talking of the impact of a series of attacks which have resulted in the people starting to be living in isolation and in forests because of insecurity. This is because the areas in which they live have always been under constant attacks and the ambushes are the latest plans by the rebels of Riek Machar to terrorize the civilians into submission to their ill cause”, said Thon
The legislator made an appeal for intervention so that these people are rescued.
Jonglei Governor Philip Aguer Panyang also confirmed and said three government officials were killed on Nov. 19 during a road ambush on a government vehicle. He attributed the attack to the rebels.
Jonglei region, now divided int four separate states, lies along the South Sudanese border with Ethiopia. The region, while a single state for six different ethnic groups, has for decades suffered inter-communal killings, cattle raid and child abduction by rival ethnic groups. Aguer said more than 150 people were killed in September in the same area following an attack by rebel forces on military base