JUBA, South Sudan — A brutal insurgent attack on a remote village in South Sudan’s Abiemnom county has resulted in the deaths of at least 169 people, including 90 civilians, according to local authorities. The assault occurred Sunday in Ruweng administrative area, marking the latest eruption of violence threatening to plunge the nation back into full-scale civil war.
James Monyluak, information minister for Ruweng, confirmed that women and children were among the civilian casualties, alongside dozens of combatants killed in the fighting. In response to the violence, approximately 1,000 terrified residents sought refuge at a United Nations base following the attack.
The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported 23 wounded victims and expressed grave concern over accounts indicating “dozens of civilians and some local officials have lost their lives.” UNMISS official Anita Kiki Gbeho issued a stern warning: “Such violence places civilians at grave risk and must stop immediately. I urge all involved to cease hostilities without delay and engage in constructive dialogue to address their grievances.”
The massacre represents the escalating conflict between government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and armed factions believed to be aligned with opposition leader Riek Machar. The attacking youths are suspected to have connections to Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In-Opposition faction.
This surge in violence threatens to unravel the fragile 2018 peace agreement that ended South Sudan’s five-year civil war. Machar, who served as first vice president in the unity government formed after the peace deal, currently faces house arrest in Juba on subversion charges that his supporters claim are politically motivated.
The conflict intensified dramatically in December when opposition forces captured government outposts in Jonglei county, a opposition stronghold where renewed fighting has displaced approximately 280,000 people according to UN estimates. Humanitarian organizations have raised alarms about access restrictions to opposition-controlled territories endangering civilian populations.
Despite official commitments to the peace process, the government has conducted counteroffensive operations since January employing aerial bombardments and ground assaults, further destabilizing the precarious security situation in the world’s youngest nation.