Authorities, armed civilians commerce blames for Panyijiar conflict – Sudans Post
JUBA – Local authorities authorities in Panyijiar County of South Sudan’s Unity State and native armed civilians are buying and selling blames for the clashes that broke out between them at Pachiengjok Payam on Monday morning. The county commissioner accused the youth of triggering the combating over stolen cattle from Lakes State.
Fighting between authorities forces from the principle armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), led by Commissioner Gabriel Majok Bol, an SPLM-IO appointee, broke out through the early hours of Monday once they reportedly went to get better cattle allegedly stolen by the armed youth from Lakes State.
Bol informed Sudans Post in an unique interview that native youth had raided cattle in neighboring Lakes three days prior. He claimed that he, backed by an SPLA-IO pressure, went to debate the return of the cattle with the native youth however was as an alternative met with hostilities when the native youth opened fireplace on what he described as a legislation enforcement pressure, triggering the combating.
“This morning, there was fighting between SPLA-IO soldiers and criminals from civilians who went and stole 46 cattle from Lakes State in the past three days. Backed by a force from the SPLA-IO, I went to discuss the return of the cattle with the local youth in the area, but instead, we were met with hostilities when the local youth opened fire on what I would describe as a law enforcement force, triggering the fighting,” he stated.
The commissioner revealed that the confrontation resulted in casualties, with at the least two folks killed—one from all sides of the battle. He additionally disclosed that three SPLA-IO troopers sustained accidents through the combating, whereas particulars about accidents on the opposing facet stay unclear. The conflict, which erupted following makes an attempt to mediate the return of stolen cattle, underscores the escalating tensions and risks surrounding intercommunal cattle raids within the area.
“The fighting killed two people from both sides. Three soldiers from the side of SPLA-IO sustained injuries, but for the other side, I don’t know the people who have sustained injuries from the side of the stolen cattle,” he added.
The commissioner emphasised that returning the cattle aligns with an settlement signed earlier this yr between authorities in Panyijiar County and neighboring Lakes State. He acknowledged that honoring the settlement is essential to sustaining belief and stopping additional escalation of tensions, stressing that they can’t be those to breach the accord.
“The agreement that we have signed with the community of Lake State—we don’t want to be the right people that can’t implement the agreement that was signed this year,” he stated.
The head of the cattle camp, Kuony Lam, confirmed to Sudans Post that the incident resulted in a single fatality and left 5 others injured on their facet. He expressed frustration over the occasions, accusing the authorities of escalating tensions beneath false pretenses reasonably than looking for to resolve the matter peacefully.
Kuony dismissed the commissioner’s claims, accusing him of spreading misinformation to justify the assault. According to him, the authorities had not come to barter the return of stolen cattle as alleged however reasonably to make arrests and intimidate the neighborhood. He argued that the accusations of cattle raiding have been baseless and designed to shift blame onto the civilian cattle camp.
He additional claimed that the SPLA-IO troopers had attacked the camp with out proof, utilizing the pretext of recovering 46 cattle allegedly stolen from Lakes State prior to now three days. Kuony insisted that nobody within the camp was concerned within the theft and decried the commissioner’s method to addressing the difficulty.
“The soldiers from SPLA-IO came in the morning to our cattle camp, and they surrounded it with the deployment of soldiers to arrest people they claim to be suspects who they said were involved in the theft of cattle from Lake State three days earlier,” he stated. “This was not about returning cattle. It was an unprovoked attack on civilians under the guise of enforcing the law.”
Lam stated the incident resulted within the loss of life of 1 particular person and accidents to 4 others on their facet. He claimed that an SPLA-IO soldier was killed through the conflict, and his physique was left behind because the troopers allegedly fled in disarray.
“We have one person who has been killed, and another four people sustained injuries at the site where the incident took place. From their side, we only know of one person who lost his life. We saw the deceased outside the cattle camp in military uniform,” he stated.
The youth chief additional accused the commissioner of being chargeable for the combating and the ensuing casualties, alleging that the assault was unprovoked and additional recognized the deceased on their facet as Ruon Khan.
“This fighting will be accounted on the commissioner as he is the one who attacked us this morning. We were not aware that the commissioner was going to attack us. We were just surprised by gunfire when he and his soldiers came to our place,” he stated.”
