The United Nations has raised alarm over a fresh surge of violence in northern South Sudan, saying dozens of civilians and several local officials were killed after armed youth attacked Abiemnom County in the Ruweng Administrative Area near the Sudan border. In a statement issued on March 1, the U.N. Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, said the attackers stormed the county headquarters, wounded about 23 people and triggered a wave of displacement, with more than 1,000 civilians seeking safety at a nearby U.N. peacekeeping base.
The U.N. did not identify the attackers, but local authorities later put the toll far higher. Reuters reported on March 2 that officials in Ruweng said at least 122 people were killed, including 82 civilians, while other reports, including AP, said the number could be as high as 169, with 90 civilians among the dead. Those figures have not yet been independently verified by the United Nations.
UNMISS chief Anita Kiki Gbeho condemned the violence and called for an immediate halt to hostilities, urging all parties to resolve grievances through dialogue rather than armed confrontation. The mission said it was reinforcing protection efforts and working to support civilians displaced by the fighting.
The attack comes at a time of mounting instability in South Sudan, where a fragile 2018 peace deal has come under growing strain. U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk warned last week that the country was at a “dangerous point,” saying rising violence and political uncertainty were increasing the risk of a return to broader conflict. He called for urgent action to preserve the peace agreement and prevent a slide back into full-scale civil war.
South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011, has struggled for years with conflict, displacement and weak state institutions. The latest violence in Abiemnom is likely to deepen fears that insecurity is spreading beyond isolated clashes and could further destabilise the world’s youngest nation.
One correction to your draft: UNMISS said more than 1,000 people sought shelter at its base, but the higher death toll figures came from local officials, not from the U.N.
