Cattle Raids Kill at Least 72 in South Sudan Warrap State, Government Says

At least 72 people were killed and 38 were wounded in coordinated cattle raids in Tonj North County, in Warrap State in northern South Sudan, according to the Warrap state government. The attack struck Akop Payam, close to the boundary between Warrap and Unity states, on Monday, October 26, 2026.

The state government said the toll covered both sides of the fighting. Warrap caretaker Minister of Information William Wol Mayom Bol said 50 of those killed were from the raiding side and 22 were from the community that was targeted. He put the number of wounded at 38. The reported death toll and the circumstances of the attack have not been independently verified, and every figure in this report comes from the state government statement.

Blame claims and damage

The state government blamed armed elements from Mayom County in neighbouring Unity State and sub-sections of Alabek Payam for the raids. A separate report of the same statement said armed youths from the Lou Ariik community targeted members of the Apuk Padoch community. Both accounts are claims made by the state government, and no independent account of who carried out the attack has been published.

The statement said an unspecified number of cattle were taken from the Majak-kou cattle camp. It said the markets at Athieng-puol and Rual-malith were burned, and homes in several villages in Akop Payam were destroyed.

In the statement, signed by Bol, the government said the two states were working together after the attack:

"Warrap and Unity States are establishing communications to recover the raided cattle, identify the criminals involved and bring them to book."

Official response

Caretaker Governor Angelo Ngot Mayar condoled with bereaved families and ordered security agencies to deploy to the area and evacuate the wounded for treatment. The state also appealed to humanitarian agencies to help women, children and older people who were left without food, shelter and medicine after the attack.

A cycle of revenge attacks

The state government linked the raid to a cycle of revenge attacks in the area. It said a targeted assault in Mading-Juer on October 24 claimed eight lives, including a girl, two days before the Tonj North raids.

The BBC report on the attack set out earlier violence in the same area of Warrap State. In August, at least 60 people were killed and 50 injured in an attack in the same area, according to ACLED figures cited in that report. A similar attack in March led to 58 deaths and 71 injuries. Last year, a six-month state of emergency was declared in Warrap.

For families in Akop Payam, the immediate needs named by the state are basic ones: treatment for the wounded, and food, shelter and medicine for people whose homes were destroyed. Whether the promised deployment and the talks between Warrap and Unity states stop the next round of revenge attacks is the question the statement leaves open.