BREAKING | County commissioner among dozens killed in attack on Ruweng

BENTIU — The commissioner of Awarpiny County and his executive director were among dozens of people killed after armed attackers stormed Abiemnom town in South Sudan’s Ruweng Administrative Area on Sunday, local officials said, in a major escalation of community violence in the oil-producing region.

The attack, allegedly carried out by suspected armed youth from neighboring Mayom County in Unity State, left large parts of Abiemnom burned to the ground, with homes, government facilities and markets destroyed, according to authorities in Ruweng.

Civilians fled into surrounding areas as gunfire and arson spread across the town.

Ruweng Administrative Area Information Minister Simon Chol Mial confirmed that Awarpiny County Commissioner and his executive director were killed during the assault alongside dozens of civilians. Casualty figures remain preliminary as authorities continue to assess the scale of the destruction and account for missing residents.

Witnesses said heavily armed assailants entered Abiemnom early in the morning, opening fire indiscriminately before setting residential neighborhoods ablaze. Many wounded civilians were reportedly left without medical assistance amid ongoing insecurity and limited access to evacuation routes.

Local officials described the attack as devastating, saying much of Abiemnom had been reduced to ashes, triggering mass displacement. The number of people forced to flee remains unclear, though residents were seen escaping toward safer areas and nearby settlements.

The incident highlights persistent tensions between communities along the Ruweng–Mayom border, where cycles of cattle raiding and retaliatory violence have repeatedly escalated into deadly confrontations despite previous peace efforts.

Security authorities had not issued an immediate response, and it remained unclear whether additional forces had been deployed to prevent further attacks. Officials warned that the death toll could rise as more information emerges from affected villages around Abiemnom.