France, March 3 -- At least 169 people were killed in Abiemnhom, in the Ruweng administrative zone bordering Sudan, according to local authorities, who emphasised that this toll is still provisional.

"People fled in all directions, so we will undoubtedly find more wounded and more bodies," the local government's Minister of Information, James Monyluak, told RFI's correspondent.

The exact reasons for the massacre are currently unknown but local authorities are citing intercommunal violence, against a backdrop of growing political instability in South Sudan.

According to Monyluak, the attack took place around 4am on Sunday, when a "very large number" of armed Nuer youths from the neighbouring Mayom County, some dressed in military unifor...