Five wounded in house assault in Lakes state

November 27, 2014 (RUMBEK) – Five people were wounded when unknown gunmen stormed and opened fire on the house of a journalist in South Sudan’s Lakes state.

Mabor Marual, a reporter of Rumbek FM-98 radio station, said he suspects it was a revenge attack, which saw him sustain gunshot wounds on the legs.

He was rushed to Rumbek civil hospital, with four others, for treatment.

A criminal investigation department officer confirmed the incident saying one attacker was killed by during gunfire exchange with Marual family in Akuac residential area.

“It was quite surprise, the whole house came under gunfire from both side – we have counted no death in Mabor Marual family, but people with gunshot wounds are five,” confirmed a criminal investigation department officer.

“Among those wounded in Mabor house was a child and a girl,” he added.

The officer, who preferred anonymity, said the attack could have been part of the cycles of revenge in the region, adding that one of the attackers was killed.

“His body [the attacker] was found this morning in the garden of Mabor Marual and the person has been identified,” he said.

Police blamed the population for declining to share security-related information.

Lakes state has been mired cattle raiding since South Sudan’s independence in July 2011 and continues to be locked in a cycle of inter-clan revenge clashes.

Youth activists and traditional authorities have repeatedly called for the removal of military caretaker, governor Mutur Chut Dhuol amid claims he has failed to stem the violence. However, president Salva Kiir has so far overlooked the calls.

(ST)