The UN Mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, said the patrol was traveling toward the remote area of Pajut when it came under fire from unidentified gunmen. The two peacekeepers killed were from Ethiopia, according to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, who said three other peacekeepers, two South Sudanese police officers and two civilian mission staff were among the injured in the attack.
UNMISS said it deployed a quick reaction force to secure the area and support the emergency response, though the identities and motives of the attackers have not been established. The mission called for a swift, thorough investigation into the ambush and said it was working with South Sudanese authorities to identify those responsible.
“attacks against UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law”
— UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric
A Rising Toll
The ambush brings to nine the number of peacekeepers killed in malicious attacks in South Sudan so far this year, according to UN figures. Violence against peacekeepers had historically been rarer than attacks on aid workers, but officials say the line has blurred as fighting between government forces and opposition factions has intensified in recent months.
The broader toll on humanitarian workers has been even steeper. The UN says more than 450 attacks on aid workers and assets were recorded between January and July, more than double the same period last year, with at least 36 humanitarian workers and contractors killed so far in 2026, already surpassing the total of 31 recorded across all of 2025.
A Country on Edge
The attack comes amid months of grinding conflict between government troops and forces loyal to opposition leader Riek Machar, who was suspended from his post as vice president last year and now faces treason charges he says are politically motivated. Analysts and aid groups have repeatedly warned that South Sudan risks relapsing into the kind of large-scale civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people in the years after the country's 2011 independence.
Nearly eight million people in South Sudan, more than half the population, are facing crisis-level hunger, with famine risk flagged in four counties, according to UN estimates presented to the Security Council. A cholera outbreak has killed more than 1,700 people, compounding a humanitarian emergency that officials say is being made worse by the violence blocking aid workers from reaching the communities that need them most.
Next checkpoint
What to watch
The U.N. investigation, identification of the armed group, accountability measures and changes to patrol or aid-access procedures.
Evidence
Sources and editorial notes
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