Five killed in Pochalla cattle raid
Armed assailants attacked Otallo, killing five civilians and wounding four others, according to local officials.
Five civilians died and four were injured in a cattle raid in Otallo, Pochalla County, on Friday and Saturday. Armed assailants attacked the area, which hosts the palace of King Akway Agada Akway Cham of the Anyuak Nyiodolla Royal Dynasty. Lt Col Amat Ochan, the county police inspector, accused armed men from the neighbouring Murle community of carrying out the attack.
The attackers stole cattle, but local youth recovered all the stolen animals and a mobile phone believed to belong to an assailant. Ochan stated that names saved in the phone suggest the attackers are Murle. Three of the five killed were members of the same family. Two of the four wounded received initial treatment at Pochalla Primary Health Care Centre.
Two of the injured are in critical condition and were evacuated to neighbouring Ethiopia for further treatment after efforts to move them to Juba were unsuccessful. Othow Okoti, a former local official, condemned the attack. The recovered mobile phone will be investigated to establish further details about the assailants.
Why it mattersThe attack resulted in five civilian deaths and four injuries, with two critically wounded individuals requiring cross-border medical evacuation.