Amnesty International blames South Sudan authorities and UNMISS for failing to prevent a massacre

Amnesty International has accused the South Sudanese authorities and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) of failing to prevent a massacre that claimed more than 200 lives last March. Despite receiving clear warnings of an imminent attack, both the state government and the peacekeeping mission reportedly took no action to protect civilians in the affected area.

The violence occurred on March 1, 2026, when over 1,000 armed individuals from the Nuer tribe launched a four-hour assault on Abyeiom County, located near the border with Sudan. The attackers killed more than 200 people, including children, and left many others wounded. The Nuer tribe is associated with Riek Machar, the former vice president and primary political opponent of President Salva Kiir, who has been imprisoned since March 2025 on charges of crimes against humanity.

South Sudan has remained deeply unstable since gaining independence in 2011. Frequent clashes continue between soldiers loyal to President Kiir and supporters of the incarcerated Machar. The report highlights a critical failure in the international and domestic security apparatus to mitigate the long-standing ethnic and political tensions that plague the nation.