At least 25 killed in South Sudan attacks

Authorities in South Sudan's eastern State of Jonglei said Thursday that at least 25 people have been killed and 2,100 herds of cattle raided in a series of attacks carried out by a splinter rebel group linked to South Sudanese opposition leader Riek Machar.

Local member of parliament Philip Thon Leek told reporters in Juba that gunmen launched a series of attacks between Nov. 11 and 19, killing at least 25 and injuring 17 others in Duk County.

He said the attackers had also driven away 2,100 cattle and displaced more than 50,000 civilians from 35 rural villages since October.

"People are living in isolation and in forests because of insecurity. These ambushes are latest plans by the Sudan People's Liberation Army-In-Opposition (SPLA-IO) splinter group to terrorize the civilians into submission to their ill course. So I'm making an appeal for intervention so that these people are rescued," Leek said.

Jonglei Governor Philip Aguer Panyang told Xinhua by phone that rebels killed three government officials on Nov. 19 during a road ambush on a government vehicle.

Jonglei State, which lies along the South Sudanese border with Ethiopia, has for decades suffered inter-communal killings, cattle raid and child abduction by rival ethnic groups.

Over 150 people were killed in September in the same area following an attack by rebel forces on military base.

South Sudan has witnessed fresh rounds of violence since fighting broke out between rival army factions loyal to President Salva Kiir and former First Vice president Machar in July, raising concerns of a return to civil war.

The United Nations says violence in the world's youngest nation has displaced 1.6 million people internally and other 900,000 into neighboring countries. Another 4.6 million are severely food insecure. Endit