Dozens of people were killed or abducted by suspected Murle raiders when a village near Bor came under attack two days ago.

Four wounded survivors of the attack on Kolnyang village 15 kilometers south of Bor were transferred to the town in search of treatment. Among the wounded was a pastor of the Episcopal Church of Sudan who recounted to Radio Tamazuj what happened in the attack.

“At around 5:00 in the evening on Thursday the attack happened on Kolnyang area. There wasn’t any way for people to run from them. People were killed and others abducted,” said Reverend Thomas Agou Kur.

“The number of people who were killed was 27, 18 women and 9 men, and 12 children were abducted,” he added.

Victims of the attack identified the raiders as being Murle, not Nuer, saying they took the children in the direction of Pibor County. The attack was confirmed to Radio Tamazuj by state authorities.

The Murle rebel group led by David Yau Yau signed last week a ceasefire agreement with the government of Salva Kiir. The recent attack came as a surprise to the local community, which was just recovering from the violence that had marred Bor County for a month since the defection of an SPLA division in the area.

Last week the mediator of the recent ceasefire between the government and the David Yau Yau group, Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban, said that the peace deal would bring provide communities with an opportunity for reconciliation.

The bishop called on the parties to cease the culture of war and militarism and urged them to begin working hard for sustainable peace in the country and helping suffering people.

File photo: Houses burnt during a cattle raid in a village in Jonglei, South Sudan, 12 July 2013 (AFP/Hannah McNeish)