At least six women have been raped by gunmen in Leer County on Friday, the Police in Unity state has said.

A group of 10 women carrying sacks of food items to the neighboring village in Leer were reportedly assaulted by bandits early on Friday.

According to the Police Commissioner in Leer, the incident happened in Gotuong village north of Leer town.

Speaking to Eye Radio from Leer on Saturday, Col George Kong Gattang also reported that the perpetrators looted the food items after raping six women.

“This happened yesterday [Friday] in the morning. Some criminals came from Gandor, they came to Juong area, they looted civilians, beat them and also raped some women. They told me they were six women,” Kong told Eye Radio.

“That happened yesterday [Friday] in the morning at 7 AM. So those youths were not from Mayiandit or Koch, they were from Leer here.

“The government is working hard to search for those criminals, even yesterday [Friday] we sent forces to look for them, they went up to Gandor.

“Now, we are in communication with the SPLM-IO to look for the criminals. We have also identified some names.”

Col. Kong added that some of the perpetrators have been identified and that they will be held accountable.