27 killed in South Sudan ahead of pope's visit

By Benjamin Takpiny

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) – At least 27 people have been killed in South Sudan ahead of Pope Francis’ imminent arrival in the country.

Francis will reach South Sudan on Friday from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

The killings took place in Kajo-Keji, a county in the Central Equatoria state, on Thursday.

The violence was sparked by an attack by “unknown gunmen” on a camp of cattle herders, according to Phanuel Dumo, the county’s commissioner.

Cattle herders responded with “a random killing spree of innocent civilians” in Kajo-Keji, Dumo told Anadolu.

“They murdered 21 civilians in the assault, while six of the attackers were also killed,” he said.

Paul Yugusuk, archbishop of the South Sudanese Episcopal Church’s Central Equatoria Internal Province, called on President Salva Kiir’s government to “intervene immediately to protect the civilian population.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who will accompany the pope to South Sudan, said he was “horrified” by the latest killings.

“It is a story too often heard across South Sudan. I again appeal for a different way: for South Sudan to come together for a just peace,” he wrote on Twitter.​​​​​​​