THE number of aid workers kidnapped in South Sudan has more than doubled this year, two senior humanitarian officials said on Wednesday.

Several of those kidnapped have been released after ransom payments, said three people with knowledge of the negotiations, but one aid worker, James Unguba, died in captivity earlier this month, according to several sources, including Edmund Yakani, a prominent civil rights activist in the country.

The United Nations has long designated South Sudan as one of the most dangerous places for aid workers. However, analysts say that the spike in kidnapping for ransom is a new and worrying trend.

“The biggest fear is that this could become a countrywide issue,” said Daniel Akech, a South Sudan expert with the International Crisis Group.

More than 30 South Sudanese aid workers have been kidnapped this year, according to the two humanitarian officials. That is more than double the number of aid workers abducted in all of 2024, according to both officials.

Fighting in South Sudan between the national army and opposition factions has surged this year, marking some of the worst violence since a 2018 peace deal ended a civil war that killed an estimated 400,000 people and formed a fragile unity government.

Some analysts say the clashes are linked to a struggle over President Salva Kiir’s successor, as speculation about his declining health spikes.

Mr Unguba, a South Sudanese aid worker, was kidnapped last month in the county of Tambura, in Western Equatoria state and died in captivity on September 3, according to three sources with knowledge of his death who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The sources said Mr Unguba, who worked for a local aid organisation, was abducted by men dressed in national military uniforms.

The kidnappings have hampered life-saving services for hundreds of thousands of people in remote areas along South Sudan’s southern borders with Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, aid agencies say.

In July, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) suspended operations in two South Sudanese counties after one of its staff members was taken at gunpoint while traveling in a clearly marked convoy in the county of Yei in Central Equatoria state.

This came just four days after the kidnapping of another health worker traveling in an MSF ambulance.

Aid officials say it remains unclear who is behind the kidnappings.

But Mr Akech, from the International Crisis Group, says the region is filled with armed groups seeking quick profit.