One woman was killed, another injured, and a third escaped unharmed after suspected armed bandits attacked a group of women collecting charcoal at the Baai Liir cattle camp near Tibek in Jonglei State’s Bor County on Wednesday.
Maj. Gen. Ayuen Aguek, the director of police in Bor County, confirmed the incident and said a security response is underway.
“Our forces have been deployed to track the suspects and establish their identity,” he said. “This is a tragic act of violence against innocent civilians, and we are committed to pursuing those responsible and ensuring the safety of communities in the area.”
For his part, Jacob Werchum, the information minister in Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA), said he had not yet been informed about the incident by Bor County officials.
“No one reported this incident to us, and this is what normally happens there on the Jonglei side. Whenever there is anything happens, the officials from there do not call, but we do not blame them because it has become rampant nowadays,” he said. “About the incident itself, we are not aware, and all of these things, you know, sometimes it’s evident, because now and then, things like ambushes, killings, and abductions are happening. It happens in the same area.”
Minister Werchum reiterated GPAA’s commitment to ending cross-border crime, noting that laws criminalizing child abduction and cattle raiding have been enacted. He added that authorities recently resolved to deploy security forces to crime-prone zones along the Jonglei–GPAA border, though difficult terrain has slowed implementation.
The latest attack comes less than a week after two women were killed in Werkok Boma, Makuach Payam of Bor County, in a similar assault blamed on armed criminals from neighboring Pibor.