At least 60 killed, 50 wounded in Tonj North attacks as Warrap health services mobilize
At least 60 people were killed and 50 others wounded in attacks on cattle camps in Tonj North County, Warrap State, on Aug. 9, according to the state government, while the Warrap Ministry of Health and Environment said the violence had also killed health workers and damaged a health facility.
The attacks began at about 4 a.m. Sunday at the Ariec cattle camp in Akop Payam, where armed men targeted members of the Pan-ariik and Apuk Padoc communities, according to a statement from Warrap State Information Minister William Wol Mayom Bol.
A second, suspected coordinated attack was reported in Akook Boma, targeting members of the Pan-ariik sub-clan.
The state information ministry said 37 members of the Pan-ariik community and 11 members of the Apuk Padoc community were killed, along with 15 alleged attackers. It reported 50 people wounded.
The Warrap State Ministry of Health and Environment, in a separate statement, put the reported death toll at more than 63 and said more than 50 people were injured.
The health ministry said two health workers were killed and the Alabek Primary Health Care Unit was vandalized during the violence.
Emergency ambulances and medical teams have been deployed to evacuate wounded civilians to health facilities in Kuajok, Tonj, Marial Lou and Wau, the ministry said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross also carried out five air evacuations of critically injured patients to Juba, according to the health ministry.
Seventeen of the wounded had earlier been transferred to Wau for specialized treatment, while other patients were admitted to the Athieng-puol Primary Health Care Unit, according to the state information ministry.
The attacks also resulted in the looting of an unspecified number of cattle and the destruction of property, authorities said.
Warrap officials condemned the violence and said it undermined peace and stability efforts in the region.
Gov. Bol Wek Agoth ordered the immediate deployment of South Sudan People’s Defence Forces and other organized security personnel to the affected areas to restore order, protect civilians and prevent retaliatory attacks.
The Warrap Ministry of Health and Environment has activated disease surveillance and emergency response measures in areas receiving people displaced by the violence.
The ministry appealed to humanitarian organizations and other partners for urgent medical supplies, water, sanitation and hygiene services, rehabilitation of damaged health facilities and psychosocial support for affected communities.
Authorities in Warrap and neighboring Unity state have also pledged to work together to identify and apprehend those responsible for the attacks.
The violence highlights continuing communal tensions in parts of South Sudan, where cattle raids, disputes over grazing areas and retaliatory attacks have repeatedly caused deaths, injuries and displacement.
