The authorities in Warrap State’s Tonj East County have reported that four passengers, including a soldier and a girl, were shot dead by armed youth on Tuesday as communal conflict intensified in the area.
Speaking to this publication on Thursday, Tonj East County Caretaker County Commissioner Machuei Bith said the incident happened in Ngap Anet Boma.
“A businessman, bus conductor, soldier and a girl who were all passengers were shot dead by the armed youth in Ngap Anet Boma under Ngap Agok Payam in Tonj East County,” he said. “They were travelers in three commuter vehicles traveling from the Romich area in Tonj East County heading to Tonj South County when they fell in the deadly road ambush on Tuesday.”
According to the commissioner, the assailants mistook the travelers for their wounded adversaries from the Thiik Majok community, whom they believed were being transported to Tonj Town for treatment.
“As you know, there is conflict between the Thiik Majok and Akok Deng communities, and when the armed youth from Ngap Anet, part of the Akok Deng Achuil community, spotted commercial vehicles, they suspected that their wounded enemies were being escorted by the army for treatment to Tonj South County,” Bith added.
Four wounded passengers were admitted to a hospital in Tonj Town, and the authorities have launched investigations in collaboration with traditional leaders.
A resident of Tonj East, who preferred anonymity for security reasons, said all government soldiers on board were disarmed by the youth and that eight weapons were later returned to a military barracks in the Romich area.
“It was reported that one commuter vehicle departed Ngap Agok to Tonj South County, but it was ambushed by the local armed youth identified as Gelweng (armed cattle protection forces),” he explained. “Eight guns taken from the soldiers escorting the convoy were later returned to a military barracks, but two guns are still missing.”
Meanwhile, Bona Malual, chairperson of the civil society network in Warrap State, called for cessation of hostilities among the feuding communities and urged for freedom of movement and free trade in the region.
“We call for calm and immediate cessation of road attacks because we have other communities who are not part of the ongoing conflict, and they have the right to travel from one point to another, and their right must be respected,” he said.
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