Attack in South Sudan's Ruweng area kills 122, official says


NAIROBI, March 2 (Reuters) - ⁠A group of unidentified men attacked a town ⁠in South Sudan's Ruweng Administrative Area on Sunday, ‌killing 122 people, including 82 civilians, the area's information minister said on Monday.

The country has seen rising violence in recent months ​as political infighting threatens a fragile ⁠2018 peace deal.

The latest ⁠attack took place in Abiemnhom in Ruweng, when youth ⁠from ‌Mayom County in neighbouring Unity State stormed the town and fought for more than ⁠three hours, Information Minister James Monyliak Mijok said.

"I ​would like ‌to sadly inform you that among those killed ⁠included the ​County Commissioner and the Executive Director," he said, adding that eighty-two of those killed were children, women, and elderly.

"...We ⁠managed to bury them this morning... ​Fifty people sustained major and minor injuries."

The violence highlights concerns, including from the United Nations, of deepening instability ⁠since the arrest of former First Vice President Riek Machar a year ago.

President Salva Kiir signed a peace agreement with Machar in 2018 to end five ​years of civil war that left ⁠an estimated 400,000 dead.

But implementation of the deal has ​been slow and the opposing forces ‌have clashed frequently over disagreements ​about how to share power.

(Writing by George Obulutsa; editing by Ammu Kannampilly and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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