Peacekeepers knew of possible raid on Abiemnom, the place greater than 200 folks had been killed, in line with a report by the rights group.
Revealed On 12 Nov 2026
United Nations peacekeepers and authorities in South Sudan did not act on warnings earlier than armed males attacked a village and killed greater than 200 folks earlier this 12 months, Amnesty Worldwide stated in a brand new report.
Within the report, printed on Thursday, the rights group stated the UN mission, often known as UNMISS, knew an assault on a village in Abiemnom, a distant space close to the Sudan border, was possible, however didn’t reinforce its roughly three dozen peacekeepers there till after the March 1 assault.
Advisable Tales
record of three objectsfinish of record
The findings come as South Sudan heads in direction of elections subsequent month that many concern might unravel a fragile peace.
“Each the federal government and UNMISS had enough info and time to take more practical preventive motion. Their failure to take stronger motion value lives,” stated Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty’s director for East and Southern Africa.
Amnesty reported that between 1,000 and 1,500 armed males from the neighbouring Mayom County shot residents, burned houses, and looted a part of the hospital. Authorities put the demise toll at greater than 200, together with 130 city residents, 76 safety personnel, and 7 overseas nationals.
Satellite tv for pc pictures confirmed greater than 230 buildings had been burned, and most victims had been buried in two mass graves, in line with the report. Amnesty stated the assault might have been triggered by tensions over earlier killings of a number of younger males from Mayom County.
UN power cuts
UNMISS spokesperson Priyanka Chowdhury stated the mission did its finest with restricted assets to guard and deal with about 2,500 folks sheltering at a protected space it arrange in anticipation of the assault. Going through price range cuts, it had “concentrated its accessible capability on quick safety of civilians looking for refuge inside our base”, she stated.
She stated the mission had repeatedly requested the nationwide military to ship extra forces after early warnings, and had identified tensions had been excessive since mid-February. UNMISS despatched 40 extra police after the assault.
Amnesty questioned why they weren’t deployed sooner, notably after an analogous lethal assault in April 2025.
The UN Safety Council (UNSC) renewed UNMISS’s mandate in April, however reduce its authorised troop ceiling from 17,000 to 12,000. Defending civilians is a core job of the mission.
Elections due
South Sudan is because of maintain elections on December 22. On Tuesday, African Union envoy Jakaya Kikwete urged the UNSC to assist make sure the vote is peaceable.
The Worldwide Disaster Group’s Murithi Mutiga warned {that a} rushed election may very well be “a ultimate blow” to a 2018 peace agreement that had ended 5 years of a brutal civil warfare.
South Sudanese authorities didn’t reply to 2 letters from Amnesty requesting info and responses to the report’s preliminary findings.
The rights group referred to as for an unbiased investigation into the killings and a separate overview of the peacekeepers’ response.
“Behind each statistic is a narrative of devastation, demise and destruction,” Chagutah stated. “Abiemnom’s survivors deserve fact, justice and assurances that such a tragedy won’t ever occur once more.”
