Local youth from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) have denied involvement in Sunday’s attack in the Baidit area of Jonglei state’s Bor County.
The Bor County officials accused armed Murle youth from GPAA of carrying out the raid which left 32 dead, 27 wounded, about 2500 cattle raided and several houses torched.
John Abulla, the deputy GPAA chief administrator speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday condemned the attacks and said the attackers are criminals.
However, David Ngero, the GPAA Youth Union’s external affairs secretary told Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday that Pibor youth were not involved in the attack.
“Nothing proves that the January 23 attack was carried out by our youth,” Ngero said. “The Bor people have disagreements among themselves. There was a disagreement at a church compound on Sunday and that issue turned inter-communal.”
Meanwhile, Simon Manyok Deng, the Jonglei state advisor on human rights, condemned Sunday’s attack and called on the GPAA counterparts to hold the assailants accountable.
“Jonglei state is much bigger than Pibor geographically. Yet, we can control our youth. So, we want the Pibor government to reciprocate the same,” he said. “There is no need for Pibor youth denying involvement because we were on the ground. Again, it is not logical that such dispute leads to the killing of 32 people.”
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Tuesday condemned the attack and Baidit and called on authorities to take immediate measures to avoid further escalation of violence on innocent civilians.
“According to various independent sources including the independent Human Rights Commission, on 23 January armed youth from the Murle community carried out attacks and cattle raids in Dungrut and Machined villages,” UNMISS said in a statement.