Official: South Sudan rebels kill 41 people, wound scores in gun attack in restive state

JUBA, South Sudan –  A regional official says at least 41 people have been killed and more than 60 others wounded in a rebel attack in a remote part of South Sudan's restive Jonglei state.

Hussein Maar, the acting governor of Jonglei, said the toll from the Sunday morning attack was likely to rise.

Maar said the attack is believed to have been carried out by rebels loyal to militia leader David Yau Yau with help from youth from his Murle tribe.

The attackers were armed with automatic weapons and shot indiscriminately. They also stole thousands of cattle, according to Maar.

He said the U.N. Mission in South Sudan airlifted some of the wounded to the state capital, Bor, and to the country's main hospital in the capital, Juba.