The County Commissioner in Mayom County in South Sudan’s Unity state accused rebel forces of killing innocent civilians in the recent attack in the Wangkei area.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, Commissioner John Bol stated the recent attack launched by the opposition forces on Wangkei and the other areas in the county resulted in the killing of over 20 civilians including women and children and wounded several others.

He noted figures of the wounded civilians are not yet confirmed. He said “most of the wounded were not taken to a hospital, because, majority of them prefer traditional treatment at home. With respect to the number of those who were taken to a hospital, they were nine,” he explained.

The official further revealed that the attackers also took about ten people including traders to an unknown destination toward Koch County.

“You see, the rebels led by Gen. [Peter] Gadet Yak accuse those traders who are also sons of Mayom of supporting the government, but it is not true, those traders were just working far away from the politics,” he explained.

Bol alleged that the rebel forces robbed an amount of 200,000 South Sudanese Pounds from two traders during the attack on Wangkei area.

“About 90,000 SSP were taken from a trader called Page Pathot from Kuer Buohni payam and about 181,000 SSP were taken also from Deng Gatwech from the same payam,” he indicated.

The commissioner claimed that the security situation is still calm and stable, saying the SPLA soldiers are still maintaining their defensive positions in the county.

Radio Tamazuj could not reach the opposition in the area for comment on the claims.