The government of South Sudan has been urged by Catholic bishops to apprehend and prosecute the assailants who murdered civilians on the eve of the historic visit of the Pope and two other prominent clerics.
At least 21 civilians were killed on Thursday in Kajo-Keji county in Central Equatoria state by suspected cattle herders from Jonglei state.
The following day, a joint ecumenical peace pilgrimage to South Sudan was launched by Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.
The death toll from the Kajo-Keji incident has risen to 27, with “countless numbers” injured, according to the UN peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss).
Also 2,000 people, including 30 unaccompanied children, were forced to feel from their homes, Unmiss said.
Among those killed were four volunteers from the South Sudan Red Cross Society, who were stationed in the area conducting Ebola awareness work following the recent outbreak of the deadly disease in neighbouring Uganda.
The Red Cross says its volunteers in Kajo-Keji were taken from their homes and “callously killed.”