At least 22 people died today and another 18 were injured during a theft of up to 7,000 cows perpetrated by armed men in a camp in eastern South Sudan, local authorities informed EFE.
“The incident occurred early this morning in Duk County, Jonglei State, where an armed group of cattle rustlers killed 22 youths in the area, in addition to injuring 18 other people, and also looted 7,000 cows in the area. that area where a large group of shepherds were concentrated with their livestock,” the governor of Duk, Peter Latjor Chol, told EFE.
The local government official said they transferred the injured to treatment centers, in addition to sending a joint security force to hunt down the perpetrators of the massacre.
Latjur accused the youth of the Murle tribe of being involved in the event and asked local authorities to carry out an urgent investigation and return the cattle.
During the dry season, considered summer in South Sudan, Jonglei State suffers a continuous state of violence between local pastoralist communities of the Dinka, Nuer and Murle tribes, due to raids aimed at looting livestock, as well as revenge. tribal and resource conflicts.
The central government has failed to impose security on these communities due to its resistance to the arms delivery campaigns, initiatives that did not obtain the required response from the groups of herders who buy weapons from the armed groups fighting against the government, spread in many areas of the Equatoria and Upper Nile regions.
