JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — A government-appointed county commissioner in an opposition stronghold in South Sudan’s oil-rich Jonglei State was “assassinated” by opposition forces in renewed violence, the government confirmed late Monday.
Fighting in Jonglei has intensified in recent days, with an unknown number of casualties. The strategic county of Akobo has seen the appointment of both government-backed and opposition-backed county commissioners.
James Kueth Makuach, the government-appointed commissioner, was killed on Sunday when opposition fighters launched an assault on Walgak, a remote area in Akobo West, according to officials from both sides.
Makuach defected to President Salva Kiir’s ruling party in April after being removed by the opposition’s acting leadership earlier this year.
The government then appointed him as county commissioner, ignoring a 2018 peace agreement that assigns that Akobo County position to Riek Machar’s opposition party. Machar remains in prison and faces treason charges.
The ruling party in a statement said it “strongly condemns the brutal killing” of the commissioner and would hold an emergency session to discuss it.
The opposition-appointed governor, John Wiyual Lul, said opposition fighters briefly seized the area before withdrawing after government reinforcements arrived. He said senior army officers were among those killed.
Jonglei State government spokesperson Nyamar Lony Thichiot told The Associated Press late Monday that casualty figures remained unclear.
The Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, formed to monitor South Sudan's peace process, on Monday said the renewed violence undermines the implementation of the 2018 peace deal ending civil war and threatens the safety of civilians.
Fighting in Akobo County broke out in March when opposition forces targeted a government base. The United Nations in June withdrew its peacekeepers from a base established to help protect civilians.
Civil society leaders warned that political tensions are increasingly spilling onto the battlefield again.
“This is an unfortunate relapse into violence and a clear threat to civilians, their property and humanitarian operations,” Juba-based civil society activist Bol Deng Bol said. Another activist, Edmond Yakani, urged the opposition and the government to fully respect the permanent ceasefire.
South Sudan is scheduled to hold long-delayed elections on Dec. 22, its first since independence from Sudan in 2011.
FILE - United Nations peacekeepers stand near an airstrip in Akobo, South Sudan, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Florence Miettaux, file)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The woman suspected of trying to kill a Ukrainian business tycoon in a bombing attack in Monaco last week was found dead in Ukraine with gunshot wounds to the head, Ukraine’s Security Service said on Tuesday.
A Ukrainian military intelligence officer confessed to killing the bombing suspect, Anastasiia Berezovska, with the help of a former law enforcement officer, said the security service, known as the SBU. He said he acted on his own and without the knowledge of his superiors, the SBU said.
Both men were detained on suspicion of premeditated murder.
Last week’s bombing attack at an apartment building entrance in Monaco reportedly injured Vadym Yermolaiev, a tycoon with links to Russia. A woman and a child with him were also injured. The attack shocked Monaco, a coastal playground for the rich and famous known for its tax-friendly incentives, royal family and Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Authorities have not disclosed possible motives for the bombing attack, or the killing of Berezovska.
In Kyiv, the mysterious events have raised concerns among some lawmakers about how Ukraine’s Western allies are reacting to a possible assassination attempt in Monaco that is now linked to at least one member of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.
“I hope it will not have a serious impact. But our allies deserve an explanation,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, a lawmaker from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party.
“The unusual thing is that the perpetrators were caught so quickly. That could be interpreted as evidence of a swift and effective operation by our law enforcement agencies,” he added.
Ukraine is believed to have carried out attacks and targeted killings of Russian figures in the course of the war, although those attacks have largely been confined to Ukrainian or Russian territory.
Monaco's head of state, Prince Albert II, described last week's bombing as “an odious act.” The 39-year-old Berezovska was identified as the main suspect Interpol, which issued a so-called Red Notice seeking her arrest on charges of attempted murder and criminal conspiracy.
Yermolaiev built his fortune through the Alef Group, a diversified business that includes commercial real estate, manufacturing and agriculture. Sanctioned by Ukraine in 2023 for his Russia ties, Yermolaiev has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship nearly a decade ago.
Interpol on Tuesday said it had no immediate comment on the arrests of the Ukrainian military intelligence officer and former law enforcement officer.
The SBU said investigators had focused on the two men after discovering they had repeatedly transferred cryptocurrency and money through bank accounts to Berezovska.
Investigators said they found Berezovska’s body during a reconstruction of the crime based on one suspect’s testimony. Investigators recovered spent pistol casings at the scene, the SBU said.
Authorities said the basement of the former law enforcement officer’s home appeared to be used as a torture chamber. It was not immediately clear if this is where Berezovska’s body was found.
The SBU said it had shared all available information with authorities in Monaco and was continuing to investigate those who ordered and organized the bombing in Monaco.
Investigators examine the scene at the residential building where an explosive device seriously injured three people a day earlier in Monaco, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
This screenshot of the Interpol webpage shows a Red Notice for Anastasiia Berezovska, a suspect in the Monaco bombing that reportedly targeted a Ukrainian tycoon with links to Russia. (Interpol via AP)
