The death toll of civilians in South Sudan has surged to its highest level in nearly five years, the United Nations reported Wednesday.
The fragile East African nation is gripped by escalating violence following a bitter power struggle between President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar.
Tensions spiked sharply after Machar’s detention in March in the capital, Juba, prompting attacks on medical facilities and widespread civilian targeting.
From January to March, UNMISS documented 739 civilians killed, 679 wounded, 149 abducted, and 40 subjected to conflict-related sexual violence.
This represents a staggering 110 percent increase in civilian deaths compared to the previous quarter, marking the deadliest three-month period since 2020.
Most victims were recorded in Warrap State, where President Kiir declared a state of emergency in June amid rising militia violence.
Community-based militias and civil defense groups were responsible for the majority of attacks, while conventional armed forces accounted for 15 percent of casualties.
This 27 percent increase in victims caused by formal armed groups signals a troubling expansion of hostilities in the conflict.
The UN has long warned about South Sudan’s deteriorating security, as the country struggles to heal from a brutal five-year civil war.
That war, fought between factions loyal to Kiir and Machar, ended with a fragile peace agreement signed in 2018.
However, the deal’s relevance is fading amid renewed violence and growing instability, prompting urgent calls for restraint from UN officials.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk recently urged all parties to step back from the brink and uphold the peace accord.
Without immediate action, the surge in violence risks deepening South Sudan’s humanitarian crisis and worsening rampant human rights abuses.
