Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Government-allied soldiers lured villagers from their homes with the promise of humanitarian food aid before opening fire on them, killing at least 22 civilians including women and children, according to eyewitnesses.
The Saturday morning attack in the village of Pankor, in Ayod County within conflict-torn Jonglei State, has been described by witnesses as a “death trap” and a “massacre.”
Two residents who witnessed the incident told Radio Tamazuj that more than a dozen soldiers arrived in pickup trucks and used a loudspeaker to call for residents to gather for food aid registration.
“On Saturday morning, Agwelek forces arrived in Pankor village and began inviting the villagers using a loudspeaker to come and gather in a hut for registration. After the people gathered, they opened fire on them,” said James Koat, a local church leader and eyewitness.
Koat said the victims were members of his congregation, identifying the dead as 17 women, three men, and two children.
“Two children were killed, 3 men and 17 women, so this is the total number of the people killed in Pankor. I was there when those people were buried,” Koat said.
He added that approximately 20 to 25 soldiers bound the hands of several men before opening fire on the group. Three others were wounded and taken to the nearby Paguong area for treatment.
Bishop Thomas Tut of the Episcopal Church in Ayod confirmed the account of the trap.
“The villagers thought maybe the soldiers were coming to help with registration for the humanitarian food aid brought by the NGOs. The people did not know that they were being trapped and lured to be killed. When the villagers gathered, the Agwelek opened fire on them and 22 people were killed on the spot,” Tut said.
The church leader said the perpetrators have been identified as members of the Agwelek militia. The force is drawn from the Shilluk ethnic group and operates alongside the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) but has not been fully integrated into the national army.
He said investigations revealed that the fighters left their barracks in the town of Ayod overnight without their commander’s knowledge.
Map of Ayod County in Jonglei State-Courtesy
According to Bishop Thomas, during investigations with the fighters, some claimed the attack was revenge for a 2023 assault by a Gawaar Nuer militia—commanded by the prophet Makuach Tut—on Shilluk villages in Panyikang County, Upper Nile State.
“Based on the information we received after investigations, one of the soldiers said his family members were killed by Makuach in Panyikang in 2023 and he is the only survivor because he was in the Agwelek. So, that was the narrative of soldiers during investigation after the incident,” the bishop said.
Photos obtained by Radio Tamazuj from witnesses show the bodies of women and young men. In some images, the victims have their hands bound behind their backs and appear to have been shot at close range.
Other graphic images showed victims who appeared to have been burned. Radio Tamazuj verified that the images shared had not appeared online before the killings, suggesting they were not being reused from previous incidents.
James Chuol Jiek, the government-appointed county commissioner for Ayod, confirmed the attack to this publication but disputed the death toll.
“The confirmed number of those killed is 16 civilians, and three others sustained injuries,” Jiek said. “We urge the public to disregard exaggerated reports being shared on social media.”
The commissioner said the soldiers had left their barracks overnight without the knowledge of their commander, who holds the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Authorities have taken swift action, and nine soldiers suspected of involvement, including a deputy commander with the rank of major, have been arrested, he added. “Investigations are ongoing to ensure those responsible face justice,” he said.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang could not be reached for comment.
The incident has drawn sharp condemnation from human rights groups and the main opposition party, the SPLA-IO, which claimed the death toll reached 25.
Government forces “summarily arrested, tortured and killed at least 25 civilians, most of whom were women and children,” said Oyet Nathaniel, acting chairman of the South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition.
Ter Manyang Gatwech, executive director of the Nile Institute for Study of Human Rights and Transitional Justice, described the incident as “horrific, senseless, and a grave violation of human rights.”
“These were mothers, daughters, sisters, and fathers whose only intention was to seek humanitarian assistance,” Gatwech said. “I strongly condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this horrific and senseless killing of innocent civilians in Pankor Village. This act is not only brutal but a betrayal of the trust of a vulnerable population.”
The killings come months after a video surfaced appearing to show Lt. Gen. Johnson Olony—the Agwelek commander and assistant army chief for mobilization—instructing his forces in northern Jonglei to “spare no lives” during military operations.
“Spare no lives,” Olony said in the footage. “When we arrive there, don’t spare an elderly, don’t spare a chicken, don’t spare a house or anything.”
Olony later apologized for the remarks following international condemnation.
Ayod County remains a flashpoint in a conflict that the U.N. estimates has displaced 280,000 people since December. While the county headquarters is controlled by the SSPDF under the command of Maj. Gen. Tito Biel Wie, much of the surrounding region remains an opposition stronghold.
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