By Yang Ater Yang
At least five people have been killed and 2 others injured in a cattle raid and revenge attack between Panyijar County of Unity State and Yirol East County, Lakes State.
The incident occurred in Adior Payam, Yirol East County, on Sunday.
Executive director of Yirol East County, Dhuor Apiu reported two cattle herders and three cattle raiders were killed during the attack.
He said the two people who were wounded are receiving treatment at Yirol East County Hospital in Nyang.
“The armed cattle raiders from Panyijar county of Unity state came and raided cattle in Adior Payam; when the cattle owners pursued them, they fell in an ambush, and two cattle owners were shot dead on the spot,” Dhuor narrated.
He said the attack provoked the youth from Yirol East County to launch revenge, and they killed raiders from Panyijar County on Sunday in Wun-ker and Nyang, respectively.
However, the county executive director noted that the general security situation has returned to normal as forces have been deployed to monitor and control the situation in Yirol East.
Mr. Dhuor underscored that the commissioner of Panyijar County, Unity State, Majok Bol, is working hard, but only the youth from Panyijar have decided to be uncontrollable.
“They cannot cease cattle raiding because it has become the source of their lives,” he said.
According to Dhuor, the commissioner of Yirol East County has gone to the scene of the incident with security forces to calm down the situation.
But Wuol Ater, a local resident in Yirol East County, said that tension is very high on both sides following the revenge killings.
“It’s a very horrible situation, and people are in panic. I saw one person just shot dead near my home for revenge, and again another was killed near a cattle camp,” he said.
Ater said the cattle herders from Yirol East who lost two people at the hands of Panyijar-armed cattle raiders became desperate to revenge their people, and this is what happened.
“I don’t know what will happen today,” Mr. Ater anxiously said.
He stressed that the issue of cattle raiding is a big problem that, if not addressed, will lead to further communal violence between Panyijar and Yirol East County communities.