Thousands flee South Sudan ahead of planned military operation

Thousands of civilians have fled the opposition-controlled town of Akobo in eastern South Sudan after the national army ordered residents to evacuate ahead of a planned military offensive, local officials reported on March 8th by the Associated Press.

The mass departure began late on March 7th in the town, which lies close to the border with Ethiopia. According to Nhial Lew, a local humanitarian affairs official, the area has been largely abandoned as residents rushed to escape the looming conflict.

“Most of the town is now empty,” Lew said. “Women, children, and elderly people have already left and crossed into Ethiopia.”

Although the government initially set March 9th as the deadline for evacuation, reports of fighting began emerging west of Akobo as early as March 7th. Lew said that by the evening of March 8th, the sounds of gunfire were drawing closer to the town.

The South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) issued the evacuation order on March 6th. Military authorities also instructed the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to shut down its base in Akobo.

Furthermore, aid groups and civilians were told to leave the area to prevent potential casualties during the planned assault.

In a statement, military spokesperson Major General Lul Ruai Koang said the operation would target “Akobo and surrounding areas,” warning that evacuations were necessary to avoid unnecessary civilian harm.

Akobo is one of the final strongholds of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO), the rebel group led by Riek Machar, South Sudan’s vice president, whose 2025 arrest and detainment collapsed the 2018 peace deal that had ended a five-year civil war. 

The fragile peace agreement signed in 2018 between Machar and President Salva Kiir has been steadily unravelling. Fighting between their respective forces resumed last year, raising fears that the country could slide back into full-scale conflict.

Violence has intensified in northern Jonglei State since December, when opposition fighters seized several government positions. Government troops later launched a counteroffensive that forced the rebels back but displaced more than 280,000 people within weeks.

Akobo, located in the far eastern region of South Sudan, had remained under opposition control since the civil war erupted in 2013. Despite the broader instability, it had long been viewed as a relatively safe refuge.

The presence of a small UN peacekeeping contingent attracted more than 82,000 displaced people who had settled in and around the town seeking protection.

The Associated Press, Maghrebi.org