Amnesty: UN and South Sudan failed to act on warnings before Abiemnom massacre
Amnesty International says UN peacekeepers and South Sudan's government had at least two weeks' warning before the March 1 raid on Abiemnom. More than 200 people were killed in the attack.
Amnesty International says the UN mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, and the country's authorities failed to act on warnings before armed men attacked Abiemnom on March 1. The raid killed more than 200 people. The rights group published its report on Thursday. Abiemnom is a remote area near the border with Sudan. Amnesty found that both received warnings at least two weeks before the attack, Citizen Digital reported. The warnings said a nearby community was gathering weapons and fighters to avenge an earlier attack. According to Al Jazeera, UNMISS had only about three dozen peacekeepers in the area. It did not reinforce them until after the assault. According to the report, between 1,000 and 1,500 armed men from neighbouring Mayom County carried out the attack. Citizen Digital reported that the assault lasted four hours. Authorities put the death toll at more than 200: 130 town residents, 76 security personnel and seven foreign nationals. Seven people were killed outside the rear gates of the UNMISS base, where residents had run for safety. Witnesses said the attackers shot people in their homes and gunned down others as they fled. They also burned homes and the market and looted part of the hospital. Satellite images showed more than 230 structures burned. Most victims were buried in two mass graves. "Both the government and UNMISS had sufficient information and time to take more effective preventive action.…
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