02/07/2026
Who really attacked the JDF humanitarian convoy between Payuel and Pajut in Duk County, killing 17 and wounding 9?
There has been a debate in which some Facebook warriors want to pit communities against one another, trying to capitalize on the ongoing feud to cause more conflict within the community.
Some claim that the attackers were armed members of the Red Belt Movement from Bor who laid an ambush against the people of Nyarweng and killed 17 people and wounded 9 others.
Is the Red Belt Movement still in existence? Have its members not been integrated into the SSPDF? And why would the Red Belt Movement do that after all?
Others say that the attackers were youth from Padiet who might have targeted Nyarweng for not supporting them in the fight against Twic East youth in Toch. This is clearly a blatant lie.
The fight in Toch, which later involved other sections of Twic East, began as an isolated dispute among fishermen. The delay in resolving it caused other sections to join in. I still believe that not all sections in either Twic East or Hol participated in that fight.
Nyarweng and Hol believe that it was not a county-to-county conflict that required everyone to get involved. Even within Hol, not all sections participated.
Other groups claim the attackers might have been from Twic East, seeking revenge for the Toch conflict. After all, the fighters in Toch were from Duk, just as Nyarweng is. Still, this cannot be true because we know who the Pajut – Duk road attackers are.
When the JDF vehicles were returning from Pajut after undertaking training there, they encountered armed bandits who had already set up an ambush. The ambush was clearly intended to attack any vehicle passing through the area.
According to survivors, the attackers had positioned themselves on both sides of the road and opened fire from both directions; they were in the hundreds.
One driver was killed instantly, causing the vehicle to overturn and roll over. The other driver sustained severe injuries, bringing the vehicle to an abrupt stop.
The attackers then continued firing at the passengers, killing 17 people instantly and wounding the rest. Some of the wounded lost consciousness, and the attackers assumed they were dead.
They then used spears to stab the backs and legs of those they suspected were still alive. Some wounded are currently nursing spear wounds and gunshot wounds at Giada Military Hospital
In the vehicle, there was a woman by name Kuei Machok, also injured, shot in the legs, who spoke the Murle language and was known to one of the attackers, a young man called James Makuei.
Makuei was the one who stopped the other Murle attackers from killing some of the remaining wounded. He also spared the woman's life and did not allow the children in the vehicle to be taken.
The attackers interrogated the woman because they believed she was one of them. She explained that the children were hers and that her husband was a Murle and a soldier.
Makuei, who knew the woman, told the others that he was related to her and that there was no reason to kill her.
Kuei Majok, a strong-hearted woman from Duk, had her children abducted many years ago by the Murle armed bandits.
Determined to find them, she decided to go to Pibor and stayed with the army as a covert way of searching for her children. Fortunately, after spending several years in Pibor, she was able to reunite with them.
Her children are currently living in a refugee camp in Uganda. Their mother, Kuei, was involved in the fish trade, when the conflict in Toch began, she decided to start buying and selling goods between Padiet, Payuel, and Pajut for profit for her kids. Unfortunately, she was wounded during the ambush.
It was during her years in Pibor that she learned to speak the Murle language.
Who is this James Makuei?
Makuei was a name given to this young man when he was living with a friend called Doyak Makuei Deng in Nyarweng. He was like a brother to Doyak, that is why he had Makuei as his second name. He had lived in Poktap for years and even operated a phone-charging business there.
When the inter-county dialogue took place, he was instructed to return to his homeland by the authorities, including officials from Pibor.
He reportedly refused to leave, saying that he had no one to return to and that he was comfortable living in Poktap with his friend. However, the authorities insisted, and he was eventually taken back in 2022.
That friend of his, Doyak, was killed in 2023 alongside 1st Lt. Malok Lual Yuang by Murle bandits while travelling from Bor to Kadiang.
By the time James Makuei left Poktap for Pibor, he had mastered the Dinka language and knew the Duk area very well. He knew many people because he had lived there as part of the community.
He was reportedly the one who informed his fellow attackers that they had killed Thon Biliu, the Nyarweng youth leader. Upon hearing this, they reportedly fired shots into the air in celebration.
Makuei is from Bichbich in GPAA, and therefore those who mobilized to attack Duk are believed to have come from there.
In the press release issued by the Government of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA), Hon. Jacob Werchum Juok, the Minister of Information, asserted that various armed groups are operating along the Jonglei corridor and other regions.
Indeed, various groups are operating in those areas. However, how many of them take innocent lives, raid cattle, and abduct women and children? Many people would argue that such activities have long been associated with armed elements from the GPAA, extending even beyond South Sudan's borders into Ethiopia.
The other groups operating in the region are largely political or clan-based in nature and typically target people known to them rather than attacking anyone indiscriminately.
Part of his press release reads, and I quote:
"We should not ignore the internal issues that might have contributed to the incident, such as the most recent disputes between Duk and Twic East, through which the route perfectly lies."
Clearly, he is suggesting a possible connection to Twic East. However, that remains another assumption. In this case, the attackers are known based on the narrative and survivor accounts presented above, and the attackers came from Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).
