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Fighting between government forces from the main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), led by Commissioner Gabriel Majok Bol, an SPLM-IO appointee, broke out during the early hours of Monday when they reportedly went to recover cattle allegedly stolen by the armed youth from Lakes State.
Bol told Sudans Post in an exclusive interview that local youth had raided cattle in neighboring Lakes three days prior. He claimed that he, backed by an SPLA-IO force, went to discuss the return of the cattle with the local youth but was instead met with hostilities when the local youth opened fire on what he described as a law enforcement force, triggering the fighting.
“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 said.
The commissioner revealed that the confrontation resulted in casualties, with at least two people killed—one from each side of the conflict. He also disclosed that three SPLA-IO soldiers sustained injuries during the fighting, while details about injuries on the opposing side remain unclear. The clash, which erupted following attempts to mediate the return of stolen cattle, underscores the escalating tensions and dangers surrounding intercommunal cattle raids in the region.
“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 emphasized that returning the cattle aligns with an agreement signed earlier this year between authorities in Panyijiar County and neighboring Lakes State. He stated that honoring the agreement is crucial to maintaining trust and preventing further escalation of tensions, stressing that they cannot be the ones 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 said.
The head of the cattle camp, Kuony Lam, confirmed to Sudans Post that the incident resulted in one fatality and left five others injured on their side. He expressed frustration over the events, accusing the authorities of escalating tensions under false pretenses rather than seeking to resolve the matter peacefully.
Kuony dismissed the commissioner’s claims, accusing him of spreading misinformation to justify the attack. According to him, the authorities had not come to negotiate the return of stolen cattle as alleged but rather to make arrests and intimidate the community. He argued that the accusations of cattle raiding were baseless and designed to shift blame onto the civilian cattle camp.
He further claimed that the SPLA-IO soldiers had attacked the camp without evidence, using the pretext of recovering 46 cattle allegedly stolen from Lakes State in the past three days. Kuony insisted that no one in the camp was involved in the theft and decried the commissioner’s approach to addressing the issue.
“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 said. “This was not about returning cattle. It was an unprovoked attack on civilians under the guise of enforcing the law.”
Lam said the incident resulted in the death of one person and injuries to four others on their side. He claimed that an SPLA-IO soldier was killed during the clash, and his body was left behind as the soldiers 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 said.
The youth leader further accused the commissioner of being responsible for the fighting and the resulting casualties, alleging that the attack was unprovoked and further identified the deceased on their side 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 said.”
