A U.N. patrol came under deliberate attack in South Sudan’s Jonglei State on Monday, leaving two Ethiopian peacekeepers dead and seven others wounded, the latest in a troubling pattern of violence against U.N. personnel that has now claimed nine peacekeepers’ lives worldwide this year.
The injured include three U.N. peacekeepers, two South Sudanese police officers, and two civilian staff members, according to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, who addressed the incident at a press briefing. Dujarric said the attackers, who remain unidentified, appeared to have specifically targeted the patrol rather than encountering it by chance. The patrol itself was part of routine operations aimed at easing persistent insecurity in the region.
The U.N. has since called on South Sudanese authorities to launch a swift and thorough investigation to hold those responsible accountable, with Dujarric emphasizing that attacks on peacekeepers can rise to the level of war crimes under international law.
While rare, assaults on U.N. personnel are not unheard of in South Sudan, where peacekeeping patrols regularly operate in unstable areas shaped by intercommunal conflict, armed youth movements, and clashes involving government forces. The broader trend has alarmed the international community: in June, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution specifically designed to strengthen accountability for attacks on peacekeepers, responding to growing concern over both rising violence and a lack of prosecutions.
Monday’s ambush also echoes a deadly incident earlier this year, when seven peacekeepers serving with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon were killed in March amid renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, underscoring how peacekeeping missions across multiple conflict zones have faced an increasingly dangerous operating environment in 2026.
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