South Sudan army blames desserters over Jonglei cattle raid

October 24, 2015 (JUBA) – A South Sudanese army (SPLA) official said on Friday that the cattle raiders who killed nearly 30 people in Jonglei state’s Bor county mainly comprised of soldiers who deserted from neighboring Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).

The SPLA spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said nine soldiers, including a commander of a post in Jalle, were killed in an attempt to rescue stolen cattle.

“We got intelligence reports that the raiders are army deserters from Gumuruk in Greater Pibor Administrative Area,” Aguer told reporters in the capital, Juba on Friday.

The senior army official disclosed that a military garrison commander, identified as a non-commissioned officer, Garang Alier Jongroor was also killed when he fell into an ambush. 19 civilians, including two children, lost their lives while 10 others were injured.

The raid in Jalle, officials told Sudan Tribune was the first major cattle theft in recent months.

Authorities in GPAA denied involvement of armed civilians or military from the semi-autonomous territory. However, the army insisted that the raiders came from Pibor.

Aguer said a military unit in Gumuruk deserted the garrison last week and they suspect they headed to Bor county where the raiding occurred on Wednesday.

Bor county commissioner, Isaac Mamer Ruuk claimed the raiders came from Pibor.

“The cattle are taken toward (GPAA) Pibor and there is no any other suspects apart from the Murle,” said Ruuk.

But Sam David, a communication officer in Pibor, described the claims as “baseless.”

“There is no any truth in whatever the commissioner is saying. He (Ruuk) should look for the suspects among the people of Bor county,” he told Sudan Tribune Saturday.

Unconfirmed reports say some armed youths from Bor raided cattle in Pibor last week., but these allegations could not be independently verified by Sudan Tribune.

Ethnic groups in Bor and the Murle often trade accusations over cattle theft and child abduction.

The conflict over meager resources in South Sudan’s Jonglei state has ongoing since 2010 when David Yau Yau waged a rebellion after losing in the state parliamentary polls. The government signed an agreement with Yau Yau in 2014 and granted Pibor administrative status directly funded under the office of the South Sudanese presidency.

(ST)