A herdsman was killed and another injured in an ambush carried out by armed men in the outskirts of the Jonglei State capital, Bor on Monday, a local official said.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj yesterday, the acting Bor County commissioner, Deng Riak, said the incident occurred on the Palabac road in the Werkok area when the two men were attacked while taking a bull for sale to Bor town.
“This incident took place during the morning hours of Monday while a peace conference for Greater Jonglei was ongoing. We condemned the killing of the young man and the injury of the other who is now in the hospital. And we want the national government to look into this issue,” Commissioner Deng said.
He pointed out that one man was killed on the spot while the other one was seriously injured and blamed the attack on armed bandits suspected to have come from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).
John Mawut Ngang, the state police spokesperson, confirmed the incident and said that the deceased man succumbed to his injuries at the Bor hospital on Monday evening.
He said no arrests were made in connection to the incident, and he also blamed bandits suspected to be from the greater Pibor area for the attack.
For his part, Peter Ajak, the GPAA coordinator in Juba, denied knowledge of the incident, saying Jonglei authorities’ accusations are not evidence-based.
Cattle raids and child abduction have been commonplace among the communities in Greater Jonglei.
A three-day peace conference aimed at pacifying communities of Jonglei State and their neighbors in GPAA is expected to end in Juba today.