JUBA— At least eight people, including six cattle traders and two police officers, were killed, and eight others were injured after armed men attacked a cattle market in Mogiri, northeast of Juba, on Tuesday evening, authorities said.
The attackers also went away with more than 3,000 cattle, Jacob Werchum Juok, the information minister for the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, said.
He said the victims are Murle cattle traders who had arrived at Mogiri from Pibor days earlier to sell their livestock.
“On Tuesday, our cattle traders were attacked at Mogiri. The attackers overpowered our youths, killing eight and injuring eight others. They also took 3,000 head of cattle toward Mangala,” he said.
On his part, Jacob Aligo, the Central Equatoria Acting Minister of Information, acknowledged the incident but said he had yet to receive a full briefing.
“This market was never formally established. It simply developed as people began trading there. We are now working on plans to fence off the area and improve security. But the area remains vulnerable,” Aligo stated.
Civil society group Intrepid South Sudan (ISS) has called on the national government to intervene by deploying security forces and arresting perpetrators.