Local officials said on Monday that attacks across several villages in South Sudan left at least 169 people dead.
Regional Information Minister James Monyluak Mijok said 90 of the dead were civilians — including children, women and elderly people — and about 79 were government soldiers. He warned the toll could rise.
Unidentified armed men struck multiple villages in Abiemnom County in the Ruweng Administrative Area on Sunday. No group has claimed responsibility. Initial AFP reports suggested a Nuer group may have been seeking revenge for the killing of several traders.
“The security situation has since stabilised, with government security forces deployed and now in control of the area,” Monyluak said.
UN peacekeepers in the area said they were sheltering roughly 1,000 civilians at their base and providing emergency medical treatment to the injured.
Ruweng, in northern South Sudan, borders Sudan. South Sudan gained independence in 2011 after decades of conflict, but independence did not end internal fighting, corruption or widespread poverty.
Over the past year, clashes have intensified between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and fighters aligned with opposition leader Riek Machar. A power-sharing deal between the two has unraveled, prompting UN warnings that the country risks sliding back into an “all-out civil war.” The UN has reported some 280,000 people displaced by fighting in Jonglei state.
Humanitarian organisations have also been hit. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Monday it had suspended services in parts of Jonglei after one of its facilities was struck by an airstrike, leaving 26 staff members missing.
Edited by Karl Sexton