South Sudanese authorities and United Nations peacekeepers had warnings before a March attack that killed at least 213 people in Abiemnom but did not take all the steps available to protect residents, Amnesty International said Thursday. The organization called for a public investigation into the killings and a separate review of the peacekeeping mission’s response.

The U.N. Mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, said it repeatedly asked the national authorities for more security forces and used its limited resources to protect people who took refuge at its base. A mission spokesperson told the Associated Press that it sheltered about 2,500 people. Amnesty credited peacekeepers with providing refuge but questioned why the mission sent reinforcements only after the assault.

What the investigation found

Abiemnom is in South Sudan’s Ruweng Administrative Area near the border with Sudan. In the early hours of March 1, armed men from neighboring Mayom County attacked the town, killing civilians and security personnel. The Amnesty account put the toll at at least 213, citing South Sudanese authorities. That figure included 130 town residents, 76 security personnel and seven foreign nationals. The casualty figures are the authorities’ count, rather than an independent census of the dead.

Amnesty said it interviewed 82 people, including survivors, witnesses, health workers and local leaders. Researchers also reviewed satellite images and checked photos and videos. The imagery indicated that fire destroyed more than 230 structures. Witnesses described damage to homes and the market and looting at the local hospital. The APA also reported the authorities’ death count and described the rights group’s call for an investigation.

Residents fled Abiemnom after the attack. When Amnesty researchers visited later in March, they found only a few residents in town, including people tending farms while living elsewhere. Survivors told the organization they needed assurances of protection before they could return. The damage to the hospital and market meant that restoring security was only one part of making a return possible.

Warnings and the decision to reinforce

Amnesty said the government and the U.N. mission had indications about two weeks in advance that an attack was likely. It cited accounts from community members and survivors as well as public comments attributed to a state official. UNMISS acknowledged to Amnesty that tensions had been high since mid-February. Its March statement said about 1,000 people sought protection outside its base on Feb. 28, a day before the attack, and that the mission had increased its protective presence.

The mission said on the day of the attack that it was sheltering more than 1,000 civilians inside the base and providing emergency care. The larger number it later gave the AP described the people who ultimately sought refuge and received protection. The mission told reporters it had to concentrate resources on those civilians and said it repeatedly sought additional help from government forces. Amnesty questioned whether reinforcements dispatched after the attack could have been sent sooner, particularly given a deadly assault in the same area in April 2025. The additional police were sent to strengthen civilian protection and rebuild residents’ confidence, the report said.

Those accounts address different decisions. The mission says it acted to protect people once they reached its base. Amnesty is asking whether authorities and peacekeepers could have reduced the danger before people were forced to flee. The organization said it sent South Sudanese authorities two letters seeking a response and had received none by publication. UNMISS did provide its account of the actions it took, which Amnesty included in its findings.

Calls for separate reviews

Protecting civilians under threat is a central part of the UNMISS mandate. The mission’s published mandate also calls for identifying threats and responding to early warnings. That responsibility operates alongside, rather than in place of, the government’s duty to protect its residents. Amnesty asked the government to investigate the attack and pursue criminal accountability, and it asked the U.N. mission to commission an independent review and release the findings.

The findings come six weeks before elections that South Sudan’s government plans to hold on Dec. 22. At a Council briefing this week, mission chief Anita Kiki Gbeho said the country needed dialogue among political parties and greater protection for civilians if the transition was to hold beyond polling day. Her remarks concerned the broader security and political situation. Amnesty’s findings concern the more specific question of who could have acted on warnings in Abiemnom.

For displaced families, an investigation would answer only part of what they have asked for. Amnesty also called for medical and psychological care, assistance rebuilding livelihoods and other forms of redress. The report records what survivors and local officials said, and how the U.N. defended its response. A public review could establish what authorities knew at each stage and what decisions they made before and after residents sought help.