SSPDF foil attack by armed youth in Ruweng
Authorities in Ruweng Administrative Area have revealed that the South Sudan People’s Defence Force (SSPDF) thwarted an attack by youth from Greater Unity State.
Speaking to The City Review, the Information Minister of Ruweng Administrative Area, James Arop, said armed youth from neighbouring Unity State surrounded Panakuac but they were dispersed by the army yesterday.
“Youth from Greater Unity State came and surrounded the area and wanted to fight, but the army thwarted their attack and quickly dispersed them,” he said.
Arop said they failed to understand why the neighbouring cattle keepers, who have been accommodated by the host community, could turn hostile against them.
On Monday, politicians from the Ruweng Administrative Area, headed by the Deputy Speaker of the Council of States, Mary Ayen Mijok, held talks with President Salva Kiir on how to address the deteriorating security situation in the area.
After their meeting, Mary called for calm among the people in Ruweng Administrative Area and further called for calm.
She said those attacking people in Ruweng are not ordinary youth but armed civilians with heavy guns fighting the citizens in the Ruweng Administrative Area.
Mary called for calm among the people in Ruweng Administrative Area, stressing that, it is better for the people in Ruweng to live in peace and coexist among themselves so that the area can accommodate them all since it is affected by floods.
In a statement released earlier this week, Arop said at least 17 people had been killed in revenge-related violence in Thuc County, Ruweng Administrative Area, on Saturday.
He said the violence followed an attack in Bolyaar Boma, Thuc County, where three men were reportedly killed at a fishing site and another at his house by armed men on February 6 and February 10.
Authorities in the area point accusing fingers at youth from the neighbouring community.
It later prompted a retaliatory attack on the neighbouring Unity State on Saturday, leading to the wounding of more than 20 people.
“The youth of Thuc County were angry and said the killers of the previous attack were arrested and not jailed in Ruweng, where they committed the crime,” Arop said from Ruweng, as was quoted by Eye Radio.
“On date 12th they went and attacked a cattle camp [and] so the fight continued, and we lost 17 [people]. The wounded are more than 20, “he added.
Arop is now calling on youth from the rival communities to refrain from violence.
