River Ambush Leaves Dozens Missing
A routine trading voyage turned deadly on Sunday as gunmen opened fire on a wooden passenger boat traveling from Bor to Panyijiar, on the Nile stretch bordering Jonglei and Lakes states.
Local administrator Gabriel Majok Bol confirmed one body recovered and 51 passengers unaccounted for, describing the incident as the second strike on the same route within a fortnight.
Eyewitness Accounts Raise Alarm
Majok, who received the passenger manifest in Bor, said fifty-three people—forty-six men, two women and three girls—were aboard, adding, “We have had no information since yesterday.”
He reported a single survivor suffering gunshot wounds and blamed armed elements from Yirol East County for the ambush.
Authorities Dispute Details
Yirol East commissioner Manyang Luk denied any incident inside his jurisdiction, suggesting the shooting occurred midstream on the Nile, a fluid border area, and noting that no formal report had reached his office.
The jurisdictional grey zone complicates immediate investigation, leaving families along the river corridor anxious and reliant on word-of-mouth updates.
Civil Society Calls for Protection
Child-rights advocate Zachariah Manyang Puok condemned the attack as “unlawful” and criticised authorities for failing to curb marauding youth, warning that impunity could normalise river piracy.
Local NGOs said September’s kidnapping of eight Panyijiar traders, later released, signalled a pattern now disrupting trade, humanitarian supply lines and social ties between Jonglei, Lakes and Unity communities.
Regional Security Implications
Analysts note that unpoliced waterways risk becoming lucrative corridors for armed groups seeking resources, urging state governments to coordinate river patrols and community dialogues without escalating inter-communal tensions.
For now, families cling to hope for the 51 missing, their silence echoing across marshlands that once symbolised safe passage between South Sudan’s heartland and its northern markets.