South Sudan Abiemnom massacre: Amnesty says warnings ignored

Amnesty says UN, South Sudan failed to heed Abiemnom warnings

Amnesty International said peacekeepers and authorities knew an attack was likely two weeks earlier; the UN mission says it protected 2,500 people and sought more forces.

Aalimi Nation

12 November 2026 · 3 min read

Amnesty says UN, South Sudan failed to heed Abiemnom warnings — File Photo

JUBA, November 12 (Aalimi Nation) – Amnesty International has said that United Nations peacekeepers and South Sudanese authorities failed to act on warnings before an armed attack on the village of Abiemnom in March, in which more than 200 people were killed. The rights group called for an independent investigation into the killings.

In a report published on Thursday, Amnesty said the assault took place on 1 March in the remote Abiemnom area near the border with Sudan. It said between 1,000 and 1,500 armed men from neighbouring Mayom County shot residents, set homes on fire and looted part of a hospital. Satellite images reviewed by the organisation showed more than 230 structures burned, and most victims were buried in two mass graves. Authorities have put the death toll at more than 200.

Abiemnom massacre: what Amnesty found

Amnesty said both the South Sudanese authorities and the UN mission, UNMISS, knew an attack was likely about two weeks beforehand. It said the mission did not reinforce its roughly three dozen peacekeepers in the area until after the assault had taken place. The organisation said the attack may have been triggered by tensions following earlier killings of several young men from Mayom County.

"Their failure to take stronger action cost lives," said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty's director for East and Southern Africa.

Amnesty also questioned why reinforcements were not sent sooner, noting that a similarly deadly attack had occurred in the same area in April 2025. It said the authorities did not reply to two letters in which it sought information.

UN mission disputes the picture

UNMISS spokesperson Priyanka Chowdhury said the mission had protected and treated about 2,500 people in a protected area it set up in anticipation of the attack. She said the mission had known tensions were high since mid-February and had repeatedly asked the national army for more forces. She added that the mission was operating under budget cuts and sent 40 additional police officers to the area after the attack.

The Security Council renewed UNMISS's mandate in April but lowered the mission's troop ceiling from 17,000 to 12,000. Protecting civilians remains a core task of the mission.

Demands for accountability

Amnesty urged the authorities to open an independent investigation into the killings and asked for a separate review of the peacekeepers' response. The South Sudanese government had not publicly responded to the findings at the time of writing, and the claims in the report have not been independently verified by outside observers.

The findings come as South Sudan prepares for elections scheduled for 22 December, which many in the region fear could put further strain on a 2018 peace agreement that ended a civil war. An African Union envoy told the Security Council this week that the international community must help ensure the vote is peaceful.

It is not yet clear whether South Sudan's government will agree to an independent inquiry, or whether the United Nations will carry out the separate review of its mission's response that the rights group has requested.