JUBA: At least 169 people have been killed and buried in a mass grave in northern South Sudan, two local officials told AFP Monday, as the country sees a dramatic increase in violence.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, has been beset by civil war, poverty and massive corruption since it was formed in 2011.
The United Nations warns of a return to “all-out civil war” as a power-sharing deal between President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, Riek Machar, has unravelled over the past year.
The desperately poor east African country also faces chronic ethnic violence and violent cattle-raiding.
The latest massacre happened early on Sunday in Abiemnom County near the Sudan border.
“A total of 169 bodies have been laid to rest in a mass grave,” Elizabeth Achol, health minister in northern Ruweng administrative area, told AFP by phone.
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