Juba, March 12, 2018 (SSNA) – A group of heavily armed youths from Eastern Lake State on Monday conducted a cattle raid in Terekeka State’s Tidilo village, resulting in lost of at least 22 lives and 17 wounded.
“We have confirmed 22 people dead, including women and children,” Terekeka State’s Minister, David Laku Jombe, said.
One senior state official who declined to be named for fear of reprisal said the assailants, who were estimated to be at least 100, were well-armed and questioned the source who supplied them with guns and South Sudanese national army uniform. The official also refused to name the source he alleged to be behind the arming of the youths.
Some South Sudan’s experts believe that cattle raiding has been practiced in South Sudan for decades, perhaps centuries.
The South Sudan News Agency (SSNA) was told by a confidential source that the dead include four cattle raiders.
The SSNA has also learned that a Ugandan soldier Ibrahim Congo was killed Sunday by South Sudanese gunmen who raided cattle in Padiga Noth village located Metu Sub-County in Moyo District.
It is not clear whether the two incidents were carried out by the same group.