Malakal town - (Photo: Tong Ayii).

Insecurities, characterized by targeted killings in Upper Nile State capital Malakal, have prompted authorities to prohibit men with civilian clothes from carrying weapons.

The deputy governor, Ayong Awer Lual said plain-clothed people will not move with any sort of weapon, in the directive aimed at mitigating targeted shootings that have resulted in several high profile murders.

Awer told Eye Radio, the government recently dispatched a team to investigate the incidents.

“We are telling the people that, no anybody should carry a gun within the town, we are telling them that anybody that carrying a gun while not dressing the uniform we will arrest you,” said the deputy governor.

The ban on weapons for people in non military or police uniform comes nearly two months after a gunman killed the Director General of Upper Nile State Ministry of Housing, Land and Public Utilities.

James Okony Yor is the fourth senior person to have died in what appeared be targeted killings in Malakal town.

Last year, top SSPDF General, Arop Okew, and peace activist Juliano Ambrose were shot dead while returning home from a market in the town.

Also, in 2020, a public prosecutor in the state, identified as Thomas Aban Akol was killed by armed assailants.

Since then no culprits have been identified and punished for the crimes.

But Deputy Governor Ayong Awer Lual said the committee soon will inform the public about the outcome of the investigation.

“Now we have reached a conclusion, where is this problem? The good thing is, our government here at the national level, the ministry of interior formed a committee, and this committee have gone to Malakal,” he said.

“They have done good work in Malakal, I think their report will appear in the coming days, and then you will see and let you know what’s going on in Malakal, but for as deputy governor with the governor we are doing our level best seeing that security issues should be a priority for us.”

In the meantime, he says, the state government has forbidden any person with plain clothes to carry firearms in the state capital.

Since 2013, violence has forced tens of thousands of people to abandon their homes in Malakal town, most of whom are currently inside the UNMISS Protection of Civilian Site.