A street in Yei River County [Courtesy photo]

The Central Equatoria State government said ten people, including two women and eight men, have been abducted and two passenger vehicles set ablaze in separate attacks in Yei River and Morobo Counties over the past week.

In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, Leon Abe Brown, the State Minister of Local Government and Law Enforcement Agency, said the abductions took place in Lasu Payam of Yei River County.

He stated that in a separate incident, another group of attackers torched vehicles in neighbouring Morobo County.

Brown did not indicate the exact date of the incidents but accused armed elements of the opposition National Salvation Front, NAS, of being behind the attacks.

He condemned the abduction of civilians, describing the act as barbaric.

“The Security Committee strongly condemned the recent abduction of ten people in Lasu Payam, Yei River County and the burning of two vehicles in Morobo County, allegedly carried out by elements of the National Salvation Front (NAS),” he said.

The announcement was made during a Central Equatoria State Security Committee meeting held on Tuesday at Kator Block, Juba City Council, and chaired by the acting state governor Paulino Lukudu Obede.

Minister Brown called for the immediate and unconditional release of those abducted.

“The ten kidnapped individuals include eight men and two women. We are appealing for their unconditional release. These acts by anti-peace elements are unacceptable and are condemned in the strongest terms possible,” he added.

The opposition NAS has not commented or claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Yei River and Morobo counties have witnessed a surge in insecurity in recent weeks.

Fighting has also been reported between government forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition, SPLM-IO, in parts of Morobo County in recent weeks.