At least nine people were killed and six others wounded in fresh clashes and cattle raids between Leer and Mayendit counties of Unity State on Monday, local officials said.
The commissioner of Leer County, Stephen Taker Riak, told Radio Tamazuj that armed youth from Mayendit County attacked a cattle camp and the Muom Military Training Center in his county on Monday, killing six people and wounding three others.
“On Monday, they (youth from Mayendit) came back and attacked the barracks at the Muom Training Center and nearby cattle camps at around 3 pm,” Commissioner Taker said. “The armed attackers took the cows and ran away with them and our youth went and managed to intercept them and they brought back the stolen cows from the raiders.”
He said during an earlier attack on 12 May, the youth from Mayendit made off with 247 head of cattle from cattle camps in Leer County.
“On 12 May, the armed attackers from Mayendit County came and looted around 247 head of cattle. When the youth from Leer County tried to revenge against Mayendit, I talked to them to allow the state government to intervene in recovering the raided cattle,” Taker said. “But, the youth from Mayendit County started distributing the raided cattle among themselves.”
He blamed his Mayendit counterpart for negatively influencing the youth in his jurisdiction because one of the latter’s bodyguards was killed in the recent raid.
Commissioner Taker said six people from his county were killed and three others wounded and that 15 people are killed from the side of Mayiandit County.
However, the commissioner of Mayendit County, Dr Gatluak Nyang, said three people were killed in his county and three others wounded. He said he had arrested six of the attackers who went to Leer County and that those who attacked Muom Training Center and cattle camps in Leer County are a group of 30 armed criminals.
“The attackers are a combined group of mixed criminals from Mayendit, Leer, and Koch counties and we have so far arrested six suspects on our side and we are still after others yet to be apprehended,” Dr Nyang said. “We also appeal to authorities in Leer County to do the same and arrest those involved in attacks on their side.”
He added that three people from Mayendit were killed, three others wounded, and that two of the wounded had been transported to Juba by the ICRC for treatment.
Dr. Nyang said information that youth from his county raided cattle is not true and that cows from an earlier raid had been returned to Leer County by the SSPDF.
Meanwhile, the acting information minister in Unity State, David Gai Jiejor, confirmed the clashes and cattle raids.
“The incident was just a cattle raid by some criminals who just wanted to raid cattle in Leer County. The criminals went up to Muom. They came from Mayiandit with other criminals from other areas looking for cattle,” he said. “You know our communities, at this time are looking for cattle and they are very wild.”
He said the SSPDF recovered the raided cattle and returned them to Leer County.