Pibor armed youth on their way to attack, says Jonglei information minister  

BOR – The information minister of South Sudan’s Jonglei state, John Samuel Manyuon, has said a big number of armed youth from neighboring Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) is on its way to attack Jonglei state in two directions and called on the authorizes in GPAA to stop the alleged attack.

The claims of mass mobilization of youth comes a day after the United Nations Mission in South Sudan said it was concerned about escalating cattle-related violence in Easter Equatoria state’s Kapoeta County, GPAA, Jonglei and other areas.

Manyuon says armed young men have been mobilizing in big numbers in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area with the intention of attacking Jonglei state’s Greater Akobo and Greater Bor.

“We have heard that the Murle are mobilizing and have left for Jonglei. We have heard that they are heading to two directions, one to Greater Bor and the other one to the area of Greater Lou Nuer,” he claimed.

The senior state government official appealed to the authorities in Greater Pibor Administrative Area to immediately intervene to stop the mobilization saying it may turn into deadly violence that will not be controlled by the government.

“We are calling on the Greater Pibor Administrative Area to call back their armed youth from wherever direction they are heading to through their county commissioners, chiefs and youth leaders. We need to have peace in Greater Jonglei and by provoking this situation – we are returning our civil population to a bad situation. We need to enjoy the peace dividend and tranquility which every South Sudan needs to enjoy” said Manyuon.

When contacted by Sudans Post, Chief Administrator of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area Lokali Amea, denied any knowledge of armed youth mobilizing, but acknowledges that young men in his area are heavily armed and there exists possibility that they could attack neighboring areas.

“I came the day before yesterday, I was out of the area. There is no mobilization going on. We can’t support youth to go and attack other tribes. These youth have more arms than the government and that is why I call the government of Jonglei to join our hands to get to fight these criminals. This is the only way we can stop this. But if I support my people here and the government of Jonglei defends its people. Then the people will continue killing themselves,” he said.

Amea said if youth are mobilizing in his area, he will do his best to stop an impending attack and said that he has been conducting peace campaigns in Greater Pibor to urge young people to cease all forms of hostilities including cattle raids, child abductions, and road ambushes which have crippled the transportation network and blocked humanitarian aid to the area.

He urges Jonglei authorities to convince their youth to stop blocking the Juba-Pibor road so that goods and humanitarian assistance can reach Pibor.

For his part, the spokesperson of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, Linda Tom, told Sudans Post that UNMISS is concerned about fighting in several parts of the country and has deployed peacekeeping forces to some areas.

“We are concerned about the inter-communal and subnational violence in several parts of the country including Jonglei and the Greater Pibor. As UNMISS we are in ten different field locations including in those areas. We have a peacekeeping presence on the ground and we are watching the situation very carefully,” Tom said from Juba.

Cattle raids, revenge killings and child abductions have become a common occurrence in parts of Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area despite many goodwill agreements signed by both communities in recent years aimed at ending the violence.