Two women were abducted by armed assailants while collecting firewood on the outskirts of Walgak town in Jonglei State’s Akobo County on Sunday, authorities said.
Akobo County Commissioner Puok Nyang Tutjiek told Radio Tamazuj that the middle-aged women remain missing after a rescue mission failed. He accused armed youth suspected to have come from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) of involvement in the attack.
“On Sunday, two women aged 30 or above were attacked and abducted in the bushes while collecting firewood. Their children were home, not with them,” he said.
Puok added, “Our youth pursued the attackers to recover the women they took hostage but were unsuccessful as these criminals fled to Pibor.”
The commissioner condemned the attack and urged GPAA authorities to intervene.
“We condemn these repeated insecurity incidents and urge our GPAA counterparts to intervene,” he said. “Last week, a family was attacked in Akobo town, resulting in the death of an elderly man, his granddaughter, and a woman.”
However, Peter Ajany Kaimoi, the GPAA local government minister, said they were unaware of the attack.
“We are not aware of these attacks that resulted in the deaths and abduction. Our area is battling a cholera outbreak and fears of imminent attack from Nuer youth, so our youth would not mobilize to attack there. However, if two or three criminals made it there, that is something we cannot confirm,” he said.
Cattle raids are commonplace in Jonglei State and the GPAA, often involving killings and the abduction of women or children.
Past efforts to stop the decades-long cycle of inter-communal violence have been unsuccessful.