84 killed, 62 wounded in separate attacks in Tonj North’s Akop, Warrap State

At least 84 people have reportedly been killed and 62 others wounded in two separate attacks in Akop Payam, North Tonj County of Warrap State on Monday and Tuesday, according to local sources and state authorities.

The latest attack occurred at around 5 a.m. on Tuesday, October 27, when suspected armed criminals believed to have come from Marial Lou Payam and Tonj East County attacked five villages in Akop Payam, leaving 12 people dead and 24 others wounded, according to Gabriel Manuer Akot, a youth leader from Akop.

Manuer said the attackers targeted Bundiir, Achuol-Lok, Pakur, Ariik, and Marial-Amel villages, which he reported had been burned to ashes. Five people were also reported missing following the attack.

He said the violence had left residents fearing for their safety and called on the national government to deploy security forces to protect civilians.

“My call to the national government is to make some intervention. Our people are really finished. If the government is there, it can bring some forces to rescue the people,” Manuer said.

He added that women, children, and elderly people were among those affected by the violence.

Efforts by Eye Radio to reach the authorities in Tonj East and Marial Lou Payam were not successful at the time of publication.

The Tuesday attack followed a separate incident on Monday, October 26, in which suspected armed criminals from Mayom County and Alabek Payam reportedly killed 72 people and wounded 38 others.

Warrap State authorities also reported widespread destruction of property and cattle raids in connection with the violence.

The two incidents involved different suspected assailants, according to the reports, amid continuing cycles of retaliatory attacks between communities in the Tonj region.

The reported combined toll from the two separate incidents stands at 84 people killed and 62 wounded.