Murle raiders steal over 80 heads of cattle from Dinka’s Jalle in Jonglei
April 7, 2015 (BOR) – As South Sudan’s Jonglei state continues to experience what seemed to be uncontrollable threats of cattle theft, child abduction and trafficking, Bor county officials accused the neighbouring Murle community in the newly created Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) of stealing their cattle.
He immediately accused Murle ethnic tribesmen of allegedly being responsible for the disappearance of cattle, but indicated that there was no clashes between the cattle thieves and the wronged community.
“On April 6, 2015, the raiders from Murle area attacked Jalle payam headquarter, stole 112 heads of cattle and there is no casualties in the payam,” commissioner Ruk explained.
He said the youth of the area and government’s regular forces were still pursuing the raiders, adding that the footmarks of the stolen cattle indicated they were moving towards the Mulre areas.
Although the number of cattle stolen was not yet ascertained, the commissioner reported 112 heads of cattle which he explained that were stolen from a cattle camp in Jalle and nearby villagers.
In February this year, Jalle payam was hit by attackers who set houses on fire, burning over 30 heads of cattle to death, and escape and attempted to run away with some heads of cattle before they were rescued and returned by the police and army.
Jalle area has been one of the hotspots in Jonglei state for years as it had been attacked several times with many lives lost. In all these attacks, Murle ethnic group always remained the prime suspect according to the community leaders and the state government officials.
Although the government is doing the best it could, Bor county commissioner said frequent occurrence of raids and abduction of children has threatened the return and resettlement of people from the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugee camps back to their home villages in Bor.
“When such attacks happen day and night, it can create insecurity scenario to our people. It is a great challenge to Bor county administration,’ Ruk said.
“The government had done its work, there are nearly 300 mixed forces comprising of SPLA, police, wildlife, deployed in Jalle payam. The delay of SPLA intervention in the areas was due to lack of mobility, but now they are on the way to follow the youth,” he said.
Machiek Biar, one of the chiefs of Jalle where the cattle were stolen, confirmed over 80 heads of cattle were stolen from his camp.
“The number could be higher; there are those who lost 12 heads of cattle, and others lost less than 10 heads. Others are still trying to search for their cattle if they may find them. The number we have known is over 80 heads of cattle from the camp,” he said.
He however added that it was still premature to know the exact number of cattle that went away with the ethnic Murle raiders.
Biar said his attempt to get rescue from the army did not succeed due to lack of quick response from the SPLA commanding officers.
(ST)