Ethiopian envoy in South Sudan in search of abducted children

ESAT News (March 17, 2017)

South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that gunmen from the Murle tribe in Boma State had carried out an attack on Ethiopia’s Gambella region and fled along with dozens of children.

An Ethiopian envoy was in Juba on Thursday to find the abducted children and discuss security issues along the common border between the two countries.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, the Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mawien Ariik, said local authorities in Boma state informed the government that a group of gunmen from the area went and attacked people in the Gambella region of Ethiopia.

Makol pointed couldn’t confirm the number of the children who were allegedly abducted, and neither the number of people killed.

“We agreed that if there are children abducted by the Murle tribe, they must be taken back to their families as soon as possible before Ethiopia could enter to South Sudan territory for further action,” said Makol.

The South Sudanese diplomat stressed that those involved in the attack would face the law, according to the radio report.

Chol Chany, a regional government spokesman on Wednesday, told Reuters that gunmen from South Sudan killed 28 people and kidnapped 43 children in Gambella.

He further said the raids on Sunday and Monday occurred in Gambella’s Gog and Jor areas, which border South Sudan’s Boma state.

The latest killings bring the total number to 50. On Friday and Saturday, ESAT reported that at least 22 people were killed in a cross-border raid by the Murle of South Sudan against the Anyuaks in Gambella, western Ethiopia.

A total of 189 people were killed and over over 200, including children, were kidnapped in a series of raids in the last two months.

In April 2016, 208 people were killed and over 100 children were kidnapped in a cross border raid by the Murle. Some 50 children were returned.