2 UN peacekeepers killed in South Sudan ambush
File photo: REUTERS
Two United Nations peacekeepers were killed in a deadly ambush in South Sudan on Monday.
According to a statement from the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the attackers intercepted a patrol as the troops journeyed toward Pajut within Jonglei state. This violent incident intensifies deep-seated anxieties that the nation may plunge back into an all-out civil war.
While officials have not yet released the names and nationalities of the deceased, the assault also injured three other peacekeepers, two South Sudanese police officers, and two civilian employees working with the mission.
To secure the site and reinforce emergency operations, the UN peacekeeping mission dispatched a Quick Reaction Force. Expressing her outrage, the head of the mission Anita Kiki Gbeho declared, “Such deadly violence targeting UNMISS personnel, who are serving to support peace in South Sudan, is unacceptable.”
While assaults targeting peacekeeping forces remain uncommon, aid organizations have logged a surge in hostility against humanitarian workers as the threat of a full-scale civil war looms. United Nations statistics reveal that aggressors launched over 450 attacks against relief workers and their assets between January and July, more than doubling the figures from the corresponding timeframe last year.
These hostilities resulted in the deaths of at least 36 humanitarian workers and contractors, eclipsing the 31 fatalities recorded throughout 2025.
This bloodshed unfolds alongside months of relentless clashes between government forces and rebels loyal to opposition leader Riek Machar. The government stripped Machar of his vice presidential post last year, and he now remains under house arrest while fighting treason charges that he labels as politically driven.
His 2018 power-sharing deal with President Salva Kiir has collapsed, pushing South Sudan closer to a full-blown civil war - the very catastrophe that leaders signed the pact eight years ago to prevent.
Hostilities intensified last December when rebel forces captured several government strongholds in Jonglei. In response, the state launched ground offenses and air strikes, while simultaneously claiming it still honors the 2018 peace agreement. Meanwhile, the United States continues to pressure President Kiir and Machar to resume negotiations.
Earlier this year, American diplomats demanded “urgent action to uphold peace and mitigate the risk of civil war through an immediate return to dialogue among the parties to the 2018 peace agreement.”
Source: Al Jazeera (adapted)
