Jonglei clashes kill 2 and wound 7 in further cattle raids ARTICLECOMMENTS (4) EmailPrintSave
August 23, 2011 (BOR) - Fighting erupted in Jonglei state on Monday as unknown gunmen attacked Twic East County, killing two and injuring seven, in a cattle raid according to a South Sudan official. In this Wednesday, July 13, 2011 photo, young men herd cattle through the mud-caked streets of Pibor, South Sudan (AP) The county’s commissioner Dau Akoy Diing told Sudan Tribune that a huge number of cattle was lost to the raiders. The large Pajut cattle camp in Maar Payam [district] fell into an ambush believed to have been led by members of the Murle tribe who have been accused of numerous raids since Thursday. Mr. Akoy said the attackers launched their attack at about 1:00pm local time in a grazing field far from villages in the area. After 12 hours pursuing the the raiders in an attempt to retrieve the cattle, the youths who had been guarding the cattle returned to the area early on Tuesday morning, the commissioner said. “We have the total of seven people injured and one person who was bitten by snake and two people killed. No cattle rescued”, Akoy reported. Twic East youth leader, Kuir Ajak told Sudan Tribune that the man bitten by the snake and the six other injured people were brought to Bor Civil Hospital. According to Ajak, Murle raiders are not only targeting Luo Nuer in response to a raid in June, but the whole of Jonglei and Central Equartoria state. Thursday’s attack on Uror County in Jonglei killed 58 people according to the UN. However a group of officials from Jonglei told Sudan Tribune that the clashes in Uror county had resulted in 640 deaths, 861 people sustaining injuries, the kidnap of 208 children, the arson of 7,924 houses and the theft of 38,000 heads of cattle. In another report, one man is reported to have been killed and 500 cows stolen from Bor cattle keepers at Paluer cattle camp within Mundari territory in Gameza payam, near the Jonglei-Central Equatoria state border on Saturday. The attackers, also believed to be Murle, are still being pursued. Many cattle keepers from Bor South, comprising of Kolnyang, Anyidi and Makuach payam, have moved into Mundari land to avoid the deadly cattle disease, East Coast Fever, that has been killing cattle in Bor County since it appeared in April 2008. A source from Panyangoor, the county headquarters told Sudan Tribune on Monday 22, that only a few people were herding the cattle when the attack occurred and predicted that it would be “hard to get them back”. The final report from South Sudan’s military and officials from Uror County is yet to be submitted to the governor of Jonglei according to a source in Bor. The county commissioner for Pibor County, where most Murle live, admitted that the clash in Uror County was carried out by Murle as a revenge for a June attack on the Murle by the Lou Nuer. He claimed not to be aware of the other attacks. >From mid to late June 15-30 Luo Nuer attacked Murle in a tit for tat raid, which local groups estimate killed about 900 people. “My colleague, the Commissioner [Tut Puok Nyang] told me about the clash. This is true because they went to revenge the June attack”, said Mazee. According to Mazee, his county is expecting a peace initiation team from the South Sudan Council of Churches on Wednesday after it meets the state government in Bor. “I welcome the peaceful dialogue with our neighbors Nuer and Dinka Bor. This will help to end the current communal conflicts”, said Mazee. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
