Amnesty accuses UN, South Sudan of inaction before 200-person massacre
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Al Jazeera
Amnesty International accuses the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the authorities of failing to act on warnings before the attack that killed more than 200 people on 1 March in Abiemnom, near the Sudanese border. According to the organisation, peacekeepers were reinforced only after the assault, Al Jazeera reports.
Amnesty International accuses South Sudanese authorities and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) of failing to take sufficient preventive measures before the Abiemnom attack, which killed more than 200 people on 1 March. In a report published on Thursday, the organisation says UNMISS knew an attack was likely but did not reinforce its approximately 36 peacekeepers on the ground until after the assault, Al Jazeera reports.
Between 1,000 and 1,500 armed men from neighbouring Mayom County fired on residents, burned homes and looted part of the hospital, according to Amnesty International. South Sudanese authorities recorded more than 200 deaths, including 130 residents, 76 members of the security forces and seven foreign nationals. Satellite images showed more than 230 structures burned, and most victims were buried in two mass graves, according to the report.
UNMISS spokesperson Priyanka Chowdhury said the mission had concentrated its limited resources on around 2,500 people sheltering in a protected area established in anticipation of the attack. She added that UNMISS had repeatedly asked the national army to send reinforcements after the first warnings. Forty UN police officers were deployed after the attack, Al Jazeera reports.
Amnesty International questioned the delay in reinforcing the area, noting that a similar deadly attack had taken place in April 2025. South Sudan is also preparing for elections scheduled for next month, amid a fragile peace process. UN conditions South Sudan’s 22 December election on peace agreement.
