At least 14 people, including women and children, were killed, and 23 others were wounded in a deadly cattle raid on Payangai village in Budang Payam, in Unity State’s Rubkona County on Tuesday night, according to local authorities.
The attack, which reportedly began around 10:00 P.M. and lasted about an hour, also resulted in the theft of an unknown number of cattle.
Unity State Information Minister Nyakenya Johannes Keah Ruai told Radio Tamazuj that the attackers are suspected to have come from the Parieng area of Ruweng Administrative Area (RAA), a claim she said was confirmed by residents in Payangai village.
“23 people are receiving treatment at Rubkonta County and in Bentiu Hospital,” she stated. “During the incident, at least 40 cows were killed in cattle camps, together with 14 people, among them one woman, a girl, and 12 men.”
Nyakenya urged the Ruweng authorities to investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to book.
For his part, Salva Nyok, the information minister in Ruweng Administrative Area, tersely denied that the attackers were from their jurisdiction.
“No attacks were carried out by our armed youth; what we know is that armed youth from Unity State came and attacked our area last (Tuesday) night, and the details will come later in the afternoon,” he said. “I dismissed allegations against our youth that they attacked Rubkona County of Unity State.”
Local sources said the attackers approached from the directions of Aliny and Pariang counties in the neighboring Ruweng Administrative Area. The incident comes amid growing security concerns in northern Unity State, where communities grapple with cattle raiding, intercommunal tensions, and cross-border insecurity linked to the conflict in neighboring Sudan.
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