One dead in ambush on relief convoy in Jonglei state

April 18, 2015 (JUBA) – One person wass killed and another injured following an ambush on a relief convoy in South Sudan’s Jonglei state on Friday, local sources said.

The convoy, transporting food items from the Twic East headquarters of Panyagor to internally displaced people in Duk county, was attacked near Poktap, some 100km north of the capital, Bor.

Twic East county commissioner Dau Akooi Jurkuch confirmed the incident in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Friday.

“Right now, all the drivers of the convoy are accounted for,” he said.

According to Jurkuch, one assistant driver died instantly in the attack, with another driver wounded and now in a stable condition.

A relief worker with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), a US-funded humanitarian organisation distributing food to displaced people in Duk county, described the incident as “shocking”.

“The trucks were taking food to Poktak and was ambushed just before it reached the destination, leaving one person dead,” said the CRS employee, speaking on condition of anonymity to Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

“It was so shocking when [we] received the body of the person who left us alive some few hours ago,” he added.

The convoy was loaded by CRS in Panyagor and was en route to Poktap.

Duk county is currently hosting thousands of displaced civilians from neighbouring Uror, Nyorol and Fangak counties.

The ambush comes at a time humanitarian agencies are positioning food items before the onset of the rainy season when many roads become inaccessible.

(ST)