By Peter Kuol Kuch
Authorities at the divers’ union in Jonglei State have confirmed that two people have been killed and another one injured following a road ambush at Kor-Makuac along the Juba-Bor Highway this week.
According to the union’s chairperson, the three passenger vehicles were boarding from Juba to Bor in the afternoon and fell into an ambush upon reaching Khor-Makuac.
Speaking to No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper, Deng Jool, the Jonglei State driver’s union chairperson, emphasized that the three vehicles were shot at and property was looted by the gunmen.
“Well, the three cars boarded on Tuesday this week at 2:00 PM, and as they were coming, they got a bit delayed at the checkpoints, and they arrived at Jabor and Khor Makuac at 4:00 PM, which is where they got ambushed; the drivers were killed on the spot, and another sultan. This is what happened.” Deng said
However, Deng assured that the movement has resumed normally despite the road ambush incident, which has claimed lives and resulted in the loss of property.
Deng called on the national government to deploy enough security forces at the hotspots to safeguard the highway’s usage along the Juba-Bor roads, citing that Juba-Bor is a lifeline for the economic activities between Juba and Bor.
“Indeed, we have reported several times to the authorities about that location because we have been suspicious of the government deploying more forces, but nobody has heard us. We therefore called on the government to deploy more forces to safeguard those locations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Loku, the commissioner of Terekeka in Central Equatoria, denied the involvement of his community, citing that the territory where the incident took place belongs to Juba County.
“The place where the incident took place is not territory, and so my people have no involvement in this recent [one]; those criminals might be associated with Dinka Bor common enemies,” he said.
Early this month, 14 people were killed, and an unspecified number of cattle were raided at the Gok cattle camp from Dinka Bor by the attackers suspected to be from the Mundari.