A high-ranking traditional leader was on Monday shot dead by livestock rustlers in Padiek County in South Sudan’s Bieh State, opposition officials said.

John Daniel Bol, the opposition appointed minister of information in Bieh State, told Radio Tamazuj this morning that the cattle raiders were on a mission to steal cattle when they killed Paramount Chief Gatwech Bil Wanjang in Parateat area.

Daniel said that the assailants escaped after the incident.

The opposition official further said the attackers had come from neighbouring Boma state.

Cattle play a vital role in the lives of many communities in South Sudan. At least 38 people were reported killed by cattle raiders in Duachan and Piethgai areas in Bieh State over the weekend.