Three passengers, including two students, were killed and three others injured during road ambushes on vehicles transporting passengers from Pibor Town in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) to Juba through Bor, sparking fears among commuters.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, Jacob Werchum Jouk, the GPAA information minister, said three people were killed in the GPAA-Jonglei State border area, with the latest incident being the shooting dead of a construction company driver on Monday.
“On Monday at 7 p.m., a convoy of vehicles transporting construction materials was ambushed at a border area on the outskirts of the Anyidi area of Bor,” he said. “One driver was shot dead on the spot. The other incident occurred in the same area in July on a vehicle destined for Juba. Those in vehicles were five students who wanted to further their secondary and university education.”
“Those killed were Sunday Vorgol Nyaluk and Jiji Nyarat Koren. Three other students were injured,” Werchum added.
The GPAA information minister said those injured managed to escape and arrived in Pibor, where they are being treated. He said they left the dead bodies of their colleagues at the scene.
He condemned the incident as barbaric, blaming it on bandits whose identity he said remains unknown.
Road ambushes targeting passenger, humanitarian, and commercial vehicles are commonplace in Jonglei State and GPAA. Civil society activists have often called for disarmament and deployment of security forces to deter the cyclic vicious violence, including road ambushes.
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