A United Nations inquiry found that Uganda helped South Sudan conduct joint aerial bombardments that killed and burned civilians, with strikes that “targeted civilian-populated areas predominantly affecting Nuer communities in opposition-affiliated areas,” the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said in a report released Friday. The Nuer are South Sudan’s second-largest ethnic group. The attacks, carried out in March 2025 using improvised incendiary devices, occurred after Ugandan forces entered South Sudan to support President Salva Kiir’s government against forces loyal to opposition figure Riek Machar.
The findings provide the most detailed U.N. accounting to date of Ugandan military involvement in South Sudan’s widening conflict, and arrive as ongoing fighting threatens the 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year civil war. South Sudan’s military on Friday also ordered U.N. peacekeepers, aid agencies, and nongovernmental organizations to leave Akobo, the epicenter of recent fighting in Jonglei state, within 72 hours.
Wunaliet attack
During one attack in March 2025 in Wunaliet, 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the capital, Juba, homes were engulfed after planes dropped “barrels of liquid that ignited,” witnesses told the commission. Survivors said they saw “civilians set alight, including a boy burnt beyond recognition.” A barracks housing opposition soldiers was also struck.
Uganda’s documented role
Flight tracking data shows that a turboprop plane that circled Wunaliet during the bombing had arrived earlier that day from Uganda and was operated by the Ugandan army, according to the commission’s report.
The day after the attack, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba — Uganda’s top military commander and son of President Yoweri Museveni — posted on X that Uganda had bombed opposition forces. “Our air offensive will not stop until Riek Machar makes peace with my uncle Afande Salva,” he wrote. The post, accompanied by a video appearing to show fiery explosions captured from an in-flight aircraft, was later deleted.
The report does not state conclusively how many operations Uganda participated in or the exact nature of its involvement, finding only that there appeared to be “high degrees of planning, operational integration and command-level authorization.”
Uganda’s denials
Ugandan military authorities have said troops are in South Sudan at the invitation of the South Sudan government and under a bilateral security agreement. In November 2025, Uganda denied participating in any combat operations in South Sudan, denied using “chemical weapons and barrel bombs,” and said it does not attack civilians.
Amnesty International previously said Uganda had violated a 2018 U.N. arms embargo that prohibits member states from providing most forms of military assistance to South Sudan, including weapons and personnel. A U.N. panel of experts echoed that assessment in November 2025.
Background
Ugandan forces entered South Sudan in March 2025 with military hardware, including tanks and armored vehicles, shortly after a militia overran a military garrison near the Ethiopian border. Weeks later, Machar was placed under house arrest for his alleged role in orchestrating that attack — a charge he denies. Machar, who was suspended as vice president in September 2025 after facing criminal charges, is currently on trial for offenses including treason.
The government has since relied on aerial attacks to gain the upper hand in a widening conflict with Machar’s forces and other armed groups, with fighting intensifying in areas seen as Machar strongholds.
Museveni sent his army to South Sudan on multiple occasions during the country’s 2013–2018 civil war on behalf of Kiir’s forces, helping to turn the tide in his favor. While Kiir is not Kainerugaba’s uncle, Kainerugaba used the term to reflect the closeness of the two governments, the AP reported.