United Nations peacekeepers and authorities in South Sudan failed to act on warnings before armed men attacked a village and killed more than 200 people earlier this year. Amnesty International published the report on Thursday.
The rights group stated that the UN mission, known as UNMISS, knew an assault on a village in Abiemnom was likely. The mission did not reinforce its roughly three dozen peacekeepers stationed in the remote area near the Sudan border until after the March 1 assault took place.
The findings emerged as South Sudan approaches elections scheduled for next month. Many observers fear the vote could unravel a fragile peace agreement.
Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty’s director for East and Southern Africa, criticised the response from officials. Both the government and UNMISS had sufficient information and time to take more effective preventive action, he said. Their failure to act cost lives.
Amnesty reported that between 1,000 and 1,500 armed men from neighbouring Mayom County shot residents, burned homes, and looted part of the local hospital. Local authorities put the death toll at more than 200 people. This total included 130 town residents, 76 security personnel, and seven foreign nationals.
Satellite images analysed by the organisation showed that more than 230 structures were burned during the violence. Most of the victims were subsequently buried in two mass graves. The attack may have been triggered by tensions over the earlier killings of several young men from Mayom County.
UNMISS spokesperson Priyanka Chowdhury defended the mission, stating it did its best with limited resources. The mission protected and treated about 2,500 people sheltering at a protected area set up in anticipation of the violence. Facing budget cuts, UNMISS concentrated its available capacity on the immediate protection of civilians seeking refuge within its base, she explained.
Chowdhury said the mission had repeatedly asked the national army to send more forces after receiving early warnings, having known that tensions were high since mid-February. UNMISS ultimately deployed 40 more police officers after the attack had already occurred.
Amnesty questioned why reinforcements were not deployed sooner, particularly following a similar deadly attack in April 2025. The UN Security Council renewed the mandate for UNMISS in April but cut its authorised troop ceiling from 17,000 to 12,000 personnel. Protecting civilians is a core task of the mission.
South Sudan is scheduled to hold elections on December 22. On Tuesday, African Union envoy Jakaya Kikwete urged the UN Security Council to help ensure the vote remains peaceful.
South Sudanese authorities did not respond to two letters from Amnesty requesting information and responses to preliminary findings. The rights group called for an independent investigation into the killings and a separate review of the peacekeepers’ response.
