Local officials in South Sudan said an armed attack on a seasonal cattle camp and a village in the northwest of the country killed at least 49 people.
The incident occurred at dawn on Thursday when gunmen attacked the Machar-Pakuek cattle camp and the Mading Juer Boma area in Payam Majak, Tonj North County, Warrap State. The attack also wounded 33 others, according to an official statement.
The young African nation has been plagued by frequent violent cattle raids, as herders compete for grazing land and scarce water resources for their livestock.
Warrap State spokesman William Wol Mayom Bol described the incident as the work of “transnational armed criminal networks.” He extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and called for restraint among all parties.
Local authorities condemned the attack and appealed to humanitarian organizations to help address the “conflict-induced humanitarian disaster that has forced people to flee their homes.”
The incident comes just three weeks after another attack in the same area that killed 60 people and wounded 50 others.
Last year, President Salva Kiir declared a six-month state of emergency across South Sudan amid a sharp increase in inter-communal cattle raiding.
Earlier this month, Anita Kiki Gbeho, head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), voiced concern over the cycle of communal violence in areas such as Warrap.
