UN peacekeepers defy South Sudan military order to leave opposition-held town as civilians flee
Mission chief warns military operations in Akobo gravely endanger civilians as US, UK, and Norway urge President Kiir to revoke evacuation order
JUBA, South Sudan — March 10, 2026 — The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has refused to comply with a government order to shut down its base in Akobo, an opposition stronghold near the Ethiopian border where tens of thousands of displaced civilians have sought refuge, as the country’s fragile 2018 peace deal continues to unravel.
On Friday, March 6, 2026, the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) ordered UN peacekeepers, humanitarian organizations, and all civilians to vacate the town within 72 hours ahead of a planned military assault targeting opposition forces. Military spokesperson Lul Ruai Koang said the operation aims to “flush out” the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) forces holed up in Akobo County, warning the evacuation was necessary “in order to avoid unnecessary collateral damage.”
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But UNMISS announced Monday, March 10, 2026, it would not comply, instead maintaining what it called “a protective presence for civilians” in the town. The mission emphasized that the safety and security of its personnel “must be fully respected at all times” and confirmed it is engaging “intensively with national, state and local stakeholders” regarding the order.
“Any military operations in and around Akobo gravely endanger the safety and security of civilians,” said Anita Kiki Gbeho, the UN’s top official in South Sudan.
Mass exodus as fighting approaches
The government’s 72-hour deadline was set to expire at 17:00 GMT on Monday, March 10, 2026, but thousands of civilians have already fled. By Sunday, March 8, Akobo was “almost completely emptied,” according to Nhial Lew, a local humanitarian official. “Women, children and the elderly have left and crossed into Ethiopia,” Lew said, adding that by Sunday evening, residents could hear “the sound of machine guns approaching.”
Tens of thousands of displaced people had previously sought refuge in Akobo, which was considered a relatively safe haven due to the presence of a small UN peacekeeping contingent and its status as one of the last remaining SPLA-IO strongholds. More than 82,000 internally displaced persons were sheltering in and around the town before the evacuation order.
The exodus began Saturday night, March 7, with civilians demonstrating against the army’s ultimatum and marching toward the UN base calling for peace and protection.
Humanitarian crisis deepens
Two UN flights evacuated most humanitarian workers on Sunday, March 8, though the International Committee of the Red Cross had not yet pulled its personnel from a surgical unit at Akobo County Hospital, where wounded patients were still being treated.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it evacuated its staff from Akobo on Saturday, March 7, and later learned of the subsequent looting of its hospital and the ransacking of its office. “People in Akobo must now either flee without protection or remain at risk of being killed, while losing access to healthcare and other essential services,” said Christophe Garnier, the organization’s leader in South Sudan.
Local health authorities face desperate circumstances. Dual Diew, the Akobo County health director who has fled to Ethiopia, said there were 84 wounded patients at the hospital. “We have most of them with us here now,” he said, adding they lack medicine and basic nursing equipment. “We tried to make a plan to take them to a safer location, but we don’t have enough fuel,” Diew said earlier.
Background: The collapse of peace
The current escalation follows the breakdown of a 2018 peace deal between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing First Vice President Riek Machar, a conflict that killed an estimated 400,000 people and forced millions from their homes during a five-year civil war.
Machar has been under house arrest in the capital, Juba, since March 2025, facing charges of treason and murder that his supporters say are politically motivated. A UN inquiry found that South Sudan’s leaders have been “systematically dismantling” the peace accord.
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Fighting intensified dramatically in December 2025, when opposition forces seized several government outposts in northern Jonglei state. The government launched a counter-offensive in January 2026 dubbed “Operation Enduring Peace” that repelled opposition forces but displaced more than 280,000 people.
Since then, the SSPDF and opposition forces have been fighting across multiple states, including Unity, Upper Nile, Western Bahr El Ghazal, Central Equatoria, Western Equatoria and Eastern Equatoria. The UN’s Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan warned of a possible “return to full-scale war” if the country’s leadership failed to address the escalating challenges.
International pressure mounts
The three Western governments that have played a major role in the peace process — the United States, United Kingdom, and Norway — sent a letter to President Kiir on Monday, March 10, 2026, urging that the army’s evacuation order be revoked. They warned of “further deaths, displacement and suffering for the South Sudanese people” if the offensive on Akobo proceeds.
The Troika, as the three nations are known, said in a separate statement regarding broader violence that “all leaders who have influence with involved communities and who fail to use it to support peace are demonstrating their disregard for the interests of their people.”
Wider violence claims scores of lives
The crisis in Akobo comes amid a broader deterioration of security across the country. On Sunday, March 8, at least 169 people were killed, among them 90 civilians including women and children, when armed men stormed a village in Abiemnom county in the country’s north. The local administrator blamed the attack on elements of the White Army, a militia historically allied to Machar, alongside SPLA-IO-affiliated forces, though the group denied any involvement. More than 1,000 people sought shelter at a UN base in the area.
Separately, fighting between rival communities in the disputed Abyei region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan killed 54 people over the weekend of March 7-8, 2026, including two UN peacekeepers — one Ghanaian and one Pakistani. The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) said peacekeepers came under fire while transporting affected civilians from a base to a hospital.
“Such violence places civilians at grave risk and must stop immediately,” Gbeho said.
The standoff between UN peacekeepers and the South Sudanese military in Akobo represents a critical test for the world’s youngest nation as it teeters on the brink of a return to full-scale civil war. With the 2018 peace deal in tatters, political leaders detained, and armed groups clashing across multiple states, international mediators face an uphill battle to prevent a repeat of the atrocities that killed hundreds of thousands during the 2013-2018 conflict.
For the tens of thousands of civilians who had sought safety in Akobo, now scattered across the border into Ethiopia or hiding in the bush, the protective umbrella of the UN flag has proven fragile. As Gbeho warned, any military operation in the area “gravely endangers” their lives — but without sufficient international leverage over the parties, those warnings may go unheeded.
SOURCES / INPUTS
AP News: UN peacekeepers defy South Sudan military’s order to leave opposition-held town
Reuters: UN refuses South Sudan order to leave opposition area as thousands flee
Al Jazeera: Thousands flee Akobo after South Sudan army issues forced evacuation order
BBC News: South Sudan crisis: UN defies army order to leave opposition-held town
France 24: UN peacekeepers defy South Sudan military’s order to leave opposition-held town
The Guardian: UN refuses to leave South Sudan town as army plans assault on opposition
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