26 Doctors without Borders workers remain unaccounted for in South Sudan a month after attacks

More than two dozen Doctors Without Borders workers remain unaccounted for a month after attacks in South Sudan, the medical charity said.

Two facilities operated by the group, known by the French acronym MSF, were attacked on 3 February in Jonglei State, northeast of the capital, Juba, where violence has displaced an estimated 280,000 people since December.

A hospital in the town of Lankien was bombed by government forces, MSF said, while another medical facility in the town of Pieri was raided by "unknown assailants." Both were located in opposition-held areas.

Staff working at the two facilities fled alongside much of the local population into deeply rural areas where armed clashes and aerial bombardments were ongoing.

MSF said in a statement on Monday that "26 of 291 of our colleagues working in Lankien and Pieri remain unaccounted for".

"We have lost contact with them amid ongoing insecurity," it said.

The lack of communication with its staff could be linked to the limited network connectivity in much of the state. Staff members who had been contacted described "destruction, violence and extreme hardships".

Fighting escalated sharply in December, when opposition forces captured a string of government outposts in north central Jonglei. In January, the government responded with a counteroffensive that recaptured most of the area it had lost.

Displaced people in Akobo, an opposition-held town near the Ethiopian border, described horrific violence by government fighters. Many described not being able to find food or water as they walked for days to reach safety.

The attacks on facilities operated by MSF in Lankien and Pieri are part of an uptick in violence on humanitarian staff, supplies and infrastructure, aid groups say. Facilities operated by MSF have been attacked 10 times in the last 12 months.

"This violence has taken an unbearable toll not only on health care services, but on the very people who kept them running," said Yashovardhan, MSF head of mission in South Sudan, who only uses one name.

"Medical workers must never be targets," he said. "We are deeply concerned about what has happened to our colleagues and the communities we serve."

169 killed in South Sudan

At least 169 people have been killed and buried in a mass grave in northern South Sudan, two local officials told AFP on Monday.

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.

Local information minister James Monyluak gave the same toll, saying it included women, children and elderly people and could increase further as more bodies are found.

A diplomatic source, speaking to AFP anonymously, placed the death toll at 70 but said it could rise.

The government condemned "the barbaric attack" in a statement, confirming the killing of two senior local officials.

Minister of Information Ateny Wek Ateny said casualties include "both civilians and members of law enforcement" and that the incident would be investigated thoroughly.

Initial reports indicated the attack was carried out by an ethnic Nuer group, potentially in revenge for the killing of some traders, the diplomatic source added, though no group has claimed responsibility.

A group of unidentified men also attacked a town in South Sudan's Ruweng Administrative Area on Sunday, killing 122 people, including 82 civilians, the area's information minister said on Monday.

The latest attack took place in Abiemnhom in Ruweng, when youth from Mayom County in neighbouring Unity State stormed the town and fought for more than three hours, Information Minister James Monyliak Mijok said.

"I would like to sadly inform you that among those killed included the County Commissioner and the Executive Director," he said, adding that eighty-two of those killed were children, women, and elderly.

"...We managed to bury them this morning... Fifty people sustained major and minor injuries."

The violence highlights concerns, including from the United Nations, of deepening instability since the arrest of former First Vice President Riek Machar a year ago.