The intensifying conflict in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state has drawn sharp global scrutiny following revelations of government airstrikes utilizing incendiary weapons in civilian zones. Human Rights Watch has issued a damning alert, urging immediate international condemnation and intervention to halt further human rights violations.
Despite not being a signatory to Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which prohibits the use of incendiary munitions in civilian-populated areas, South Sudan’s reported deployment of these weapons represents a severe breach of international humanitarian norms. Targeted regions—Mathiang, Longekuch, and Nasir—have suffered widespread devastation, corroborated by satellite imagery that reveals the extensive obliteration of homes, schools, and essential infrastructure.
Under international customary law, the use of weapons that cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering is prohibited, particularly when deployed indiscriminately in populated areas. Incendiary weapons, known for producing fires and severe burns, pose an extraordinary threat to civilians. South Sudan’s use of these weapons, even outside the constraints of formal treaty obligations, may constitute a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Human Rights Watch researcher Nyagoah Tut Pur emphasizes that the attacks go far beyond strategic military targets. The aim appears to involve suppression of dissenting regions, indiscriminately inflicting terror upon populations associated—often inaccurately—with opposition forces.
The fragile 2018 peace agreement, designed to quell years of civil unrest, is unraveling under renewed hostilities. Clashes between the government and the White Army militia—believed to be loosely aligned with Vice President Riek Machar—have escalated sharply since March 2025. Machar, currently under house arrest, has denounced the government’s tactics and called for an impartial international investigation into the alleged war crimes.
This resurgence of violence not only destabilizes political reconciliation efforts but also exacerbates the humanitarian crisis. Civilians in the Upper Nile are increasingly displaced, with no assurances of safety or survival.
Human Rights Watch has appealed to the United Nations to reposition and fortify its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. The deployment of UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan) personnel to volatile flashpoints is vital to deterring further atrocities and protecting civilian lives.
However, as the watchdog rightly warns, without firm security guarantees from both state and non-state actors, peacekeepers remain hamstrung. Establishing demilitarized buffer zones around displaced persons camps and humanitarian corridors is no longer a proposal—it is an urgent necessity.
Independent satellite data confirms large-scale destruction in and around the Upper Nile towns under attack. Fires consistent with incendiary weapons, likely dropped via aircraft, have engulfed homes, medical centers, and public buildings. The pattern suggests deliberate targeting rather than collateral damage, aimed at instilling fear and depopulating opposition strongholds.
These revelations should serve as a rallying cry for international organizations and state actors alike to investigate and prosecute the responsible parties under applicable war crimes statutes.
- Launch an International Investigation: A neutral and thorough probe under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council is critical for accountability.
- Enforce Sanctions: Targeted sanctions against commanders and government officials complicit in authorizing airstrikes must be expanded.
- Humanitarian Airlifts: Immediate delivery of medical aid and evacuation routes for civilians trapped in contested regions must be established.
- Ratify and Enforce Protocol III: Global powers must press South Sudan to ratify the incendiary weapons ban and comply with its standards.
The international community stands at a crossroads. Remaining passive in the face of verified incendiary weapon use in civilian zones is not a position of neutrality—it is a stance of complicity. With peace evaporating and civilian suffering escalating, immediate diplomatic and humanitarian action is the only ethical and strategic course forward.
We urge global leaders to rise to this moment with resolve, unity, and a commitment to justice for South Sudan’s most vulnerable.
