Abiemnom massacre

Abiemnom massacre
Abiemnom massacre (South Sudan)
Location	9.3983°N 28.8233°E / 9.3983; 28.8233 Abiemnom County, Ruweng Administrative Area
Date	1 March 2026 05:00 – ~08:00 (CAT, UTC+02:00)
Attack type	Massacre, mass murder, mass shooting
Weapons	Guns
Deaths	169
Injured	68
Perpetrators	Local armed youth

The Abiemnom massacre took place in Abiemnom, South Sudan on March 1, 2026. The attack killed at least 169 people and wounded 68. It was perpetrated by unidentified armed youth from the neighboring Unity State.

Background

Abiemnom is part of the Ruweng Administrative Area (RAA), a region described as a "carved out mono-ethnic Dinka area" that has experienced recurring intercommunal violence. There had been raids conducted against the Dinka in Ruweng by Nuer youth from the neighboring Unity State, typically motivated by cattle raiding. On April 2, 2025 armed youth from nearby town of Mayom attacked and seized Abiemnom momentarily, killing at least 27 people and injuring 17 others.

Attack

The massacre began around 5 am on March 1, 2026 when unidentified armed youths crossed the state border from Mayom county to Abiemnom. The attack lasted around three hours and ended when the youths dispersed and retreated back to Mayom. Of the 169 killed, 79 were government soldiers and 90 were civilians. The executive director of Abiemnom County was also killed. During the attack over 1000 civilians sought refugee in the Abienmon UNMISS compound.

Stephano Wieu De Mialek, the chief administrator of RAA, alleged that the attackers were members of the Nuer White Army and supported by the SPLA-IO. SPLA-IO denied these claims stating that “Our forces stationed in Kubri Jamus remain in their designated positions and have not conducted any military operation targeting civilian populations." RAA community leaders and former RAA officials claimed that the armed youth were associated and armed by the SSPDF. According to the community leaders SSPDF had armed the youth with weapons seized from the retreating Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) after the fall of Heglig across the border.

Aftermath

Civil society groups urged the government to deploy security forces and call for a nationwide mourning. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and UNICEF strongly condemned the attack and expressed alarm over the surging violence in Abiemnom. Jackson Mut, a former commissioner of Mayom County alleged that Unity State Officials had prior knowledge of the impending attack. James Monyluak Mijok, information minister for the RAA alleged that the attackers were partly from the Bul Nuer armed youth group called "Terchuong".