Scores flee to Wonduruba following armed attack on Dolo mining site

Scores of people have fled to Wonduruba Administrative Payam following an attack at a mining site in neighbouring Dolo Payam of Juba County on Wednesday, according to local authorities.

The incident was initially reported on social media as having taken place in Jebel Iraq.

However, Wonduruba Chief Administrator Stephen Towongo clarified that the attack occurred instead at a mining area close to Dolo, within Juba County, several hours’ walk from Wonduruba.

According to Towongo, youth working along streams at the mining site were approached by an unidentified group wearing green uniforms.

The armed group allegedly intercepted some of the miners and seized their mobile phones before gunfire erupted as the youths attempted to flee.

“Suddenly they saw some unknown group with a green uniform… those people stormed the area and then started stopping some youth, grabbing their phones… and suddenly they had shooting, gunshot, and this is how the whole thing started,” he told Eye Radio.

The administrator said the gunfire caused people to scatter in different directions, with some fleeing toward Wonduruba, while others headed toward Juba and Khor Galtan.

Around 50 youths are reported to have escaped the area, with Towongo noting that most of those who reached Wonduruba were local Pojulu youth.

“So far 50 youth have escaped from there… Mostly those who ran… they are the Pojulu boys from Wonduruba. But from other tribes, I have not yet learned of others who have reached my side,” he said.

Towongo further revealed that intelligence reports gathered by his office indicate that seven youths were abducted during the raid, while two others expected to have reached Wonduruba remain missing.

He stressed that because the mining area falls strictly within Juba County, any official investigation into the incident falls under the jurisdiction of Juba County authorities.