Email
Print
Save
By Bonifacio Taban Kuich
August 28, 2012 (BENTIU) - Unknown raiders attacked Tuochdol village in Payinjiar county, Unity state on Sunday, leaving four dead, five seriously injured and taking with them 400 cattle, according to state authorities.
- South Sudan cattle (UN)
Confirming the attack, area commissioner Peter Gai Joak, told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday that the raiders are suspected to have come from neighbouring Lake State.
He added that it was the first time they had experienced such violence for the last six months as their had been peace between Rumbek East and Rumbek north counties. He explained that the attack had once again increased regional tensions.
According to Joak he contacted Lakes state authorities asking for the Rumbek East commissioner work on tracking dow the raiders.
There is a long history of cattle raiding between members of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups. With an influx of marriageable males as returnees to South Sudan after secession in 2011 and a deficit in cattle due to unfavourable weather conditions, cattle prices are high. In the traditions of both ethnic groups, cattle are expected as a bride price. This has led some youths to cattle-raiding, according to Joak, who urged them to find employment and buy the cattle.
Cattle-raiding and inter-ethnic conflict are serious problems in South Sudan.
(ST)
Latest Comments & Analysis
National unity: a project for each and every South Sudanese 2013-05-21 14:23:01 By Jacob K. Lupai May 21, 2013 - South Sudan has just attained independence from an imposed unity that had failed miserably to take into account the objective realities on the ground. In the old (...)
Unity and reconciliation necessary for sustainable peace in Darfur 2013-05-21 14:19:47 By Adeeb Yousif May 20, 2013 -The biggest challenge in the Darfur conflict today is divisions. These divisions have created misunderstanding and mistrust within Darfurian society. Moreover they (...)
The Invasion of Abyei: two years of more agony 2013-05-20 05:39:13 By Luka Biong Deng May 19, 2013 - On 21st May 2013, the people of Abyei have spent two years of more agony and they will remember again the sad memories of how their lives and livelihoods were (...)
MORE