HRW Alleges South Sudan Used Incendiary Weapons In Attacks That Killed Nearly 60 Civilians

HRW Alleges South Sudan Used Incendiary Weapons In Attacks That Killed Nearly 60 Civilians

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused South Sudanese government forces of deploying improvised incendiary weapons in aerial attacks that resulted in the deaths of nearly 60 civilians, including children, in the country’s Upper Nile State last month.

According to a report released on Thursday, HRW stated that South Sudanese forces aligned with President Salva Kiir dropped incendiary devices in at least four separate assaults across the counties of Nasir, Longechuk, and Ulang, causing widespread destruction and severe burn injuries…READ MORE…

“These operations, carried out in populated areas, could constitute war crimes under international law,” HRW said. The organization urged the United Nations to pressure the South Sudanese government to immediately halt such unlawful attacks and called for the rapid deployment of peacekeeping forces to protect civilians in affected regions.

The alleged attacks come amid rising tensions between forces loyal to President Kiir and those allied with First Vice President Riek Machar, threatening the fragile 2018 peace agreement that ended South Sudan’s devastating five-year civil war.

HRW’s findings were based on eyewitness accounts from survivors and local officials. Between March 16 and 19, at least 21 people were reportedly killed in Mathiang village in Longechuk County. Around the same period, assaults in Nasir town left 22 dead, with dozens of homes set ablaze.

On March 21, an airstrike in Kuich, Ulang County, involved a propeller aircraft reportedly dropping incendiary substances packed in barrels. The attack killed 15 people, including three children, and left several others critically injured, witnesses told HRW.

Victims reportedly suffered horrific burns. “One man who died in the hospital was so severely burned his teeth were exposed,” a witness recounted.

While the government has previously acknowledged conducting air strikes in the region, it has consistently framed these actions as legitimate security operations targeting armed groups. South Sudan’s Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said on March 17, “If civilians are caught in the crossfire… there is nothing we can do.”

So far, the government has not officially responded to HRW’s latest allegations.

The situation remains volatile, with Kiir’s camp accusing Machar’s forces of collaborating with the White Army, an informal militia made up of youth from Machar’s Nuer ethnic group. The escalating conflict raises concerns among international observers about a potential relapse into widespread violence.