169 people have been killed after rebels attacked a village in a remote area of ​​South Sudan

Juba, South Sudan — At least 169 people have been killed after insurgents attacked a village in a remote region of South Sudan, a local official said Monday, the latest wave of violence that has teetered the country on the brink of full-scale civil war.

James Moniluk, minister of information for Ruweng’s administrative region, said the victims, including 90 civilians, were attacked in Abimnom county on Sunday.

The dead included women and children along with dozens of fighters, he said.

The UN mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, said in a statement that 1,000 people had taken refuge at its base after the attack.

“Such violence puts civilians in grave danger and must stop immediately,” UNMISS official Anita Kiki Gbeho said in a statement. “I urge all involved to cease hostilities without delay and engage in constructive dialogue to resolve their grievances.”

“Our peacekeepers will continue to do everything within their power to protect civilians taking refuge on our bases,” he said.

The UNMISS statement cited 23 wounded in the attack in Ruweng and expressed concern over “reports indicating that dozens of civilians and some local officials have lost their lives”.

The killings are part of a rising wave of violence in South Sudan, as government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir battle armed men loyal to opposition leader Riek Machar.

The armed youth who carried out the latest attack are believed to have ties to Machar’s group known as the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition.

Machar was Kiir’s deputy until September, when he was removed after facing criminal charges. He is under house arrest in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, pending his trial.

The US is pushing for talks between Kiir and Machar.

The ongoing violence threatens the fragile peace reached in 2018 after five years of civil war. After that agreement, Machar was named South Sudan’s first vice president in a government of national unity. A UN inquiry found that South Sudan’s leaders were “systematically dismantling” that agreement.

Machar’s supporters say the charges against him on sabotage charges are politically motivated. He was removed from office with a sharp increase in violence.

The conflict escalated in December when opposition forces seized government outposts in Jonglai County, an opposition stronghold and flashpoint of renewed fighting, where the UN estimates 280,000 people have been displaced.

Aid groups have warned that access restrictions to opposition-held parts of the state are putting civilian lives at risk.

Despite its official commitment to the peace deal, the government has retaliated with aerial bombardments and ground attacks since January.