A local herder has been killed during an armed cattle raid in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, authorities have said.
The attack took place on Thursday morning in the Kothchar cattle camp, located in Gumuruk County.
Jacob Werchum Jouk, the GPAA Minister of Information, told Radio Tamazuj on Friday that assailants from neighbouring Jonglei State stole 80 head of cattle.
Local youth from the area pursued the raiders and managed to recover all the livestock, Minister Jouk said, but one herdsman was killed during the confrontation.
“The youth quickly mobilised, followed them, and rescued all cattle but lost one herder in the process,” he said.
Jouk condemned the incident, describing it as an attack on ongoing peace efforts between the two regions, and called for an official investigation.
Border tensions
The Greater Pibor Administrative Area and Jonglei State have a long history of inter-communal violence, often centred around cattle raiding and competition for resources.
When contacted by Radio Tamazuj, Simon Hoth Duol, Jonglei State’s Minister of Local Government, said his administration had not yet received an official report about the alleged incident.
“We were yet to be officially informed on the alleged attack by armed Jonglei State youth on the GPAA,” Duol said.