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Displaced civilians talk to peacekeepers. (Photo: UNMISS).
UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said many families including 430 women and children have been forced to flee a remote village in Kapoeta East County following armed clashes between local youths and neighboring counterparts in recent days.
According to the mission, renewed violence has promoted the deployment of its patrol unit to deter the conflict between Toposa from Eastern Equatoria and Murle from the Nalimochoma and Meuna cattle camps in neighboring Greater Pibor Administrative Area.
UNMISS said its peacekeepers “made the arduous 10-day journey” to Kauto Payam in Kapoeta East to understand the community’s concerns and assess the security situation.
In what UNMISS described as it’s their first ever patrol by road to this remote region, communities reported that their presence brought a sense of stability and hope amidst the conflict.
The Toposa and Murle communities have had a long history of cattle-related conflicts which have led to the significant loss of life, especially among youth.
As result, neighboring Jie community have suffered insufficient access to basic services in Kuron due to fear of being killed along the lifeline road linking Kapoeta region to Boma County in the GPAA.
“As a peacekeeping mission, we have a role to play in protecting civilians from imminent threat of violence and that is why we are working closely with State authorities to foster peaceful co-existence between communities and their neighbours,” said Guy Griffin, the head of Eastern Equatoria field office.
The UN mission has pledged its full support for a peace resolve between the two areas.
On 15th January 2025, Eastern Equatoria Governor Louise Lobong noted panic among residents in Kapota East County over allegations of a looming cross-border attack.
Mr. Lobong said the fear is caused by allegations regarding what was said to be a large mobilization by of youths in GPAA to attack the Toposa region.
He said the remote nature and poor infrastructure of the villages including Kauto Payam limited his government’s ability to take up security measures that could protect civilians in the case of such incident.
On his part, the Minister of Information in GPAA, Jacob Werchum denied the allegations that local youths were planning to attack Eastern Equatoria.
Warchum claimed that there is no evidence of youth mobilization in Greater Pibor and suggests that if such mobilization is happening, it must be from another area.
In April 2024, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said armed youth from Pibor attacked villages in Kapoeta East, where a “significant number of people were killed, many women and children were abducted, and hundreds of cattle stolen”.
The cross-border attack was condemned by GPAA’s government and Governor Louis Lobong, who called on his counterparts to recover the abducted children and hold perpetrators accountable.
Lawmakers representing Eastern Equatoria at the national legislative assembly, said nearly one hundred – mainly women and children were abducted.
In a statement dated May 2, 2024 and obtained by Eye Radio, the government of GPAA expressed disappointment over the violence it described as “wrong decision” by the youth.
Pibor then reported the recovery of at least 8 of the abducted children which it returned to their families, according to local authorities.
Pibor’s former Information Minister Oleyo Akuer said the unresolved conflict has forced the closure of a vital trade route between the two areas – leaving Pibor without access to commercial supplies.
This triggered dire hunger in the areas of Likwangole, Jebel Boma, Pochalla, and other areas – as the administrative government said last month that 12 people starved to death in two weeks in Likwangole alone.
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