South Sudan opposition alleges civilian massacre

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NAIROBI — South Sudan's opposition on Monday said government troops had committed a "massacre" of at least 25 civilians, including women and children.

The increasingly unstable country is seeing a surge of fighting, much of it in eastern Jonglei state, where at least 280,000 people have been displaced since December, according to the United Nations.

Hospitals have been overwhelmed as government forces under President Salva Kiir have clashed with militias allied to his former vice-president, Riek Machar.

The opposition says a gathering on Saturday morning of villagers in Pankor, Ayod county of Jonglei, turned into a "death trap".

Government forces "summarily arrested, tortured and killed at least 25 civilians, most of whom were women and children", said Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, acting chairman of the South Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition, in a statement.

Graphic images attached to the statement showed dead babies, children, women and young men. Most showed visible gunshot wounds, and several were burned.

AFP was unable to verify where and when the images were taken.

But a previous set of 10 graphic images was sent to AFP by a diplomatic source on Sunday, allegedly drawn from the same incident.

Some of the images were the same as those shared in the opposition statement. They showed three women, two children, and seven men killed by what appears to be gunshot wounds.

AFP verified that nine of the ten graphic images it was sent had not appeared online before February 22, suggesting that they were not being reused from previous incidents.

AFP was unable to verify the location where they were taken.

At least three of the men in the images appear to have their arms bound behind them, suggesting possible summary executions.

The conflict in South Sudan has largely pitted the two largest ethnic groups against each other: the Dinka aligned mostly with President Kiir, and the Nuer mostly with Machar.

Last month, a senior general, Johnson Olony, was filmed ordering troops to "spare no lives" in Jonglei. The government said the comments "might have been a slip of the tongue".

Army spokesperson Lul Ruai Koang told AFP he could not immediately comment on the allegations without permission from his superiors.

Ayod County, in the north of Jonglei, has been one of the focal points of the fighting that erupted in December.

News of the incident was spreading rapidly on Monday.

A nurse in Jonglei told AFP by phone: "Our government is supposed to protect our lives, but unfortunately turned on us.

"Our hope is gone."