Juba, July 18 : The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) expressed concern about widespread attacks against civilians, driven primarily by sub-national armed violence involving community-based militia groups in the country.

The UN mission said that between January and March 2024, it documented 240 incidents of violence affecting 913 civilians across the country. Out of these, 468 civilians were killed, 328 were injured, 70 were abducted, and 47 were subjected to conflict-related sexual violence. This represents a 24 per cent increase in the number of violent incidents compared to the same period last year, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Inter- and intra-communal violence by community-based militias or civil defence groups remains the primary source of subnational violence, accounting for 87 per cent of the victims documented across South Sudan," UNMISS said in a report in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

According to UNMISS, Warrap State suffered the highest rates of violence among civilians, accounting for 37 per cent of the total number of civilian victims nationwide. Jonglei and Eastern Equatoria states were the next most affected.

The number of documented abductions, however, reportedly decreased by 30 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 and reported incidents of conflict-related sexual violence went down by 25 per cent.

Nicholas Haysom, special representative of the UN secretary-general for South Sudan and head of UNMISS, noted that although nationwide trends of violence involving the conventional parties to the conflict remained relatively low during the period, military operations and activities involving government security forces and organised armed groups and their respective proxy armed elements continue to place civilians at risk, predominantly in parts of Central Equatoria State.

"We cannot emphasise enough the urgent need for collective action by national, state, and local authorities, as well as community leaders and national politicians, to resolve long-standing grievances peacefully, especially as South Sudan approaches its first elections," Haysom said.

He stressed building a culture of human rights is fundamental to achieving sustainable security, peace, and democracy.

/IANS