Lawmaker Shot Dead on Peace Trip to South Sudan's Ravaged North

(Bloomberg) -- A South Sudanese lawmaker was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while on a trip to promote peace in the war-ravaged northeast, a parliamentary spokesman said.

Simon Deng Bol Ajak was traveling on a boat between the towns of Manjang and Nasir when gunmen opened fire from a riverbank, spokesman Paul Yohannes Bonju said by phone. A policeman was also killed, while other passengers survived by jumping into the river, he said.

The incident in the Upper Nile region spotlights the dangers still stalking the East African nation even after the recent signing of peace deal to end a five-year civil war that’s claimed almost 400,000 lives.

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