Two people were killed in an attack carried out by a group of armed men in Pochalla County, Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) on Tuesday evening, the police and local officials said.
The county police inspector, Lt. Col. Amati Ochan, told Radio Tamazuj that the two were among a group of local youths the assailants waylaid at the outskirts of the Otallo area while heading to their farms.
“While the group of about 12 youth was just 30 minutes from Otallo, the headquarters of King Akway Akway Agada, they were waylaid by armed criminals from Pibor County. Ajiba Olok and Onguomi Omot were killed,” he said.
Agade Obang, a community leader of the Anyuak in Pochalla, said tensions remain high in Otallo after the attack which he said could have been triggered by their demand for an exit from GPAA.
“Recently the community wrote a petition demanding an exit from GPAA. It is something the administration does not like and so we suspect that they sent the unruly youth to terrorize the area. The area has been insecure for a long time now,” he said.
For his part, Alston Logony, the Jebel boma County commissioner, denied the involvement of Murle youth from his county in the attack.
Efforts by Radio Tamazuj to reach out to GPAA Chief Administrator Lokali Amae were futile.
Last month, the Anyuak youth were accused of involvement in the attack on Jebel Boma County in which two people were killed.
On Tuesday, the Pochalla Anyuak community demanded an exit from the GPAA over the rising violence with their Murle neighbors from Pibor County.