By Mamer Abraham
At least two people have been reported killed and 10 others wounded in a cattle raid in Twic East County, Jonglei State.
Chol Tor Gak, the commissioner of Twic East County, confirmed the attack yesterday, saying that at least 1,000 herds of cattle had been driven away by the criminals, and the youth were still pursuing them.
“The raiders took one thousand herds of cattle; they killed two people; ten people were wounded. People are after them now,” he explained.
He claimed the attackers were from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, urging the leaders there to control their youth and adhere to peace.
According to the commissioner, 45 children had been abducted and about 59 people had been killed in the last three months.
The chairperson of the Twic East County parliamentary caucus, Deng Dau Deng, said this was the fourteenth attack this year, stressing that the wounded people were trapped in the county due to floods.
“This is a double tragedy since the dykes keeping the flood away from Twic East were broken a few days ago, leaving some areas in a critical state of being submerged again in water,” Deng said.
“This situation has made it difficult to access and evacuate those wounded for proper medical treatment outside the county,” he added.
On behalf of the Twic East Parliamentary Caucus, Deng urged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help in evacuating the wounded.
Deng further urged the national government to step up the protection of civilians and also urged the government of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) to probe and apprehend the culprits.
“We equally call and urge the leadership of Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) to intervene, investigate, and apprehend the culprits, as well as retrieve all the looted herds,” he continued.
Endless attacks
Jonglei State and Greater Pibor Administrative Area had been facing rounds of inter-communal violence that left many people dead and children and women abducted between the two areas.
Last month, the governor of Jonglei State, Denay Jock Chagor, and the Chief Administrator of Greater Pibor Administrative Area, Lokole Amee, told the parliament that some politicians were fueling inter-communal violence between the two areas.
“There are some politicians who have their own hidden agendas they are trying to present in August House,” Lokole argued.
“There are some members in August House who are campaigning for seats as governors or chief administrators. And so, they are trying to take this opportunity to mobilize other MPs, even insulting them for personal issues,” he claimed.
He called for a collective approach to disarming civilians and deploying the necessary unified forces.
The governor of Jonglei State, Denay Jock Chagor, stated that he wanted dearly to see an end to cattle raiding and child abduction but felt sad because the issue was being politicized.