Barricade tape for crime scene (Courtesy)

A humanitarian worker was killed on Saturday evening in a road ambush in Therkueng village at the Warrap-Western Bahr el Ghazal border, an official said.

Warrap Minister of Information William Wol Mayom said the victim is James Akeen Majak, a staff working for the World Vision organization.

He is the second aid worker to be murdered in South Sudan in one week, following the November 3 killing of a nutrition officer in Pibor Administrative Area.

Minister Mayom said the deceased was traveling from Wau to Kuajok when he fell into a road ambush.

Neither the perpetrators nor the motive of the attack has been determined. But the minister suspects that the attack could be armed youth from the Marial-Wau area.

“Yesterday, there was one humanitarian worker named James Aken Majak, working with World Vision, he was ambushed in Therkueng when he was traveling from Wau to Kajuok and killed by the suspected armed youth from Marial Wau,” he told Eye Radio.

“The incident is a buildup from the Mayang incident, so the issue was moved from Manyang to Therekueng by the suspected armed youth from Marial Wau,” Mayom said, but could not provide a clue about the first incident in Manyang.

Mayom further called on the family of the victim to be patient while the state and national governments address the matter amicably.

According to him, a joint force has been deployed at the border of the two states to restore security.

“So far, the two governments have deployed a joint security force, from Division Five and Division 11 in Manyang, and from last night up to this hour, the situation is calm in the area.”

“We as the government, urge the two sisterly states to remain peaceful and the issue of Mayang is going to be addressed amicably by the the two governments plus the national government.”

South Sudan tops the list of most dangerous countries for aid workers in the world, and the humanitarian crisis deepens amid mounting needs, access constraints, and lack of funding, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

With 42 attacks on aid workers so far this year, South Sudan has recorded the highest number of attacks against aid workers, according to the 2023 Aid Worker Security Report.

The attacks have now left 24 aid workers dead and 36 injured.