South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The death toll in Duk County of Jonglei State has risen from 22 to more than 28 people following last week’s cattle raid by suspected Murle youth from neighboring Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).
Philip Thon Leek Deng, MP representing Duk County in the National Legislative Assembly on Sunday that they have discovered more dead corpses .
“There were more casualties in this front, so the total number is now 28 dead and the number of the wounded is 19,” said Leek in an interview with The Dawn.
He said 13 of the wounded have been airlifted to Juba to receive medical treatment.
On 4th January 2024, suspected Murle armed youth attacked Kadiang Boma of Duk Payuel and Poktap Boma of Ageer Payam leading to loss of lives and looting of more than 7,000 heads of cattle.
Leek said that the attackers are believed to have come from four Bomas of Gumuruk County of Greater Pibor Administrative Area.
“The Murle have gone completely with cattle but one of the new information we got is that these Murle militia attacked from four Bomas of Gumuruk County,” he said.
Leek said that the reports coming from Poktap indicate that 41 bodies of Murle militias were found dead on Saturday during wider search, information the Dawn couldn’t independently verify.
“There is information yet to be confirmed in Ageer Payam of Duk County that 41 bodies of Murle have been found. They were found I think at night.”
Leek said that six wounded people have been taken by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the rest are receiving treatment in Juba.
Abraham Kelang, information minister of GPAA said that they are monitoring the movement of the attackers, adding that they will be arrested and the stolen cattle returned to the owners.
Jonglei and Greater Pibor Administrative Area are often embroiled in tit for tat violence often characterized in the form of cattle raiding, revenge killings and child abduction.
Attempts to resolve the intermittent violence have failed despite communities from both areas holding peace conferences to end the fighting.
