Theme: South Sudan

The death toll from the drone strike on Amiet market in Abyei rose from 73 to 153 dead, according to local officials cited by AllAfrica. The Monday attack also forced about 8,000 people to flee and drew condemnation from the UN and the UK.

A drone strike near the Amiet market, in Abyei, killed at least 150 people, according to Al Jazeera. The local administration reports 153 dead and blames the Sudanese Army, without providing evidence, according to The Guardian, in a text published at the address recording the toll and the accusation, while Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says it received more than 20 wounded, several in critical condition, including burns.

Drone strikes killed 150 people in two areas of West Kordofan state on Sunday evening, according to sources cited by the Sudan War Observatory. In Abyei, a disputed border area between Sudan and South Sudan, 73 people were killed when drones hit a market on Monday, the region’s information minister said, according to the BBC.

Intercommunal clashes killed about 71 people in South Sudan’s town of Rumbek, in Lakes State, according to the caretaker government. A statement from South Sudan’s interim Ministry of Information said about 71 people were reportedly killed, including four soldiers, and that the exact number of fatalities has yet to be verified. Witnesses told AFP that a group of people from outside Rumbek tried to take control of the town and briefly succeeded; the attackers withdrew when police and military reinforcements arrived.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir dissolved the Transitional Government of National Unity on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, and appointed a caretaker administration to lead the country to the December 22 election, the first since independence in 2011. The decree, read out by the state broadcaster, removed all vice presidents, ministers and local administrators and dissolved the national and state assemblies; the judiciary and security institutions remained in place, and Kiir stays in office “during the election period until the next elected president assumes office”, according to Al Jazeera. The move came a day after parliament passed amendments to the National Elections Act that unlinked the vote from the completion of a permanent constitution and a census, changes Kiir signed late on Monday and that the South Sudan Opposition Alliance rejected, according to Reuters, saying they were made without adequate consultation among the parties to the 2018 peace deal. Kiir’s longtime rival Riek Machar, who leads the main opposition party, has been under house arrest since March 2025 and is on trial on charges including treason and murder, which he denies. A permanent constitution, voter registration and the unification of armed forces loyal to rival parties all remain outstanding. Amnesty International called the decree a step toward the vote and urged conditions for people to vote and stand; analysts cited by Agence France-Presse said the amendments concentrate power in the president. The civil war that ended in 2018 killed about 400,000 people and displaced millions, according to the United Nations.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional unity government set up under the 2018 peace agreement on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, and appointed a caretaker administration to steer the country to its first national elections, scheduled for December 22, 2026, according to Radio Tamazuj and Al Jazeera. The republican order read out on state broadcaster South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) removed First Vice-President Riek Machar and all four vice-presidents, dissolved the Transitional National Legislative Assembly, the Council of States, the 10 state governments and the three administrative areas, and kept Kiir in office through the electoral period until a newly elected president is sworn in. The dissolution came a day after parliament passed amendments to the 2012 National Elections Act that dropped the requirement to complete a permanent constitution and a national census before the vote, two steps set out in the 2018 deal. The South Sudan Opposition Alliance rejected the changes for lack of consultation among the agreement’s signatories, and analysts told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the arrangement concentrates power in the president: “Kiir will be the only person in power, without vice-presidents, without the executive, without the parliament,” lawyer Michael Wani, a former member of the constitution-drafting committee, told AFP. Machar, Kiir’s longtime rival, remains under house arrest on charges including treason and murder, which he denies. Amnesty International called the decree a “decisive step” towards the country’s first election since independence in 2011 and urged the authorities to ensure a safe environment in which people can vote and stand for office.