Armed youth from Pibor attack Ethiopia’s Gambelia region, kill 2  

GAMBELLA, FEBRUARY 9^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – Authorities in the Ethiopian regional state of Gambella are accusing armed youth from the Greater Pibor Administrative Area of launching attack that resulted in the killing of at least two people and the wounding of one other.

Addis Standards quoting local government official reports that the attack took place after Murle raiders coming from Pibor of South Sudan crossed on February 7 to attack Utuyo village resulting in the killing of the two people.

The local community along with regional security forces are providing proper protection to prevent them from causing further damage, Utow said, adding that, “the region has deployed regional special forces and militia, and they are working hard to take action against the aggressors”.

He called on the residents to actively defend the region in addition to the government’s attempts to stop similar attacks in the two zones sharing wider border with South Sudan; Anyuak and Nuer.

Murle tribe militants have repeatedly crossed the border over the past years, killing people, kidnapping children, and stealing property particularly during the summer season, Utow added.

In January last year the Gambella police commission said militiamen from South Sudan’s Murle tribe crossed the border and launched an attack on the region leaving eight people dead and five others injured.

It was followed by another attack in the second week of February, same year, where Murle armed men killed one, injured two others and abducted three children in Dima Refugee Camp and Gog district of Anyuak zone.

In March last year  six people died while more than 9,000 people were displaced in Lare and Jikawo districts of Nuer zone near the South Sudanese border following clashes between SPLA-IO and the SSPDF.