South Sudan Conflict Escalates with Impacts on Humanitarian Aid Delivery

Recent fighting in South Sudan has disrupted humanitarian aid efforts, with reports of stolen or diverted food and medicine worth millions of dollars. Dozens of health facilities operated by non-governmental organizations have been looted or destroyed, including through government airstrikes.

The two had formed a unity government in 2020 following a previous civil war that resulted in over 400,000 deaths. Aerial bombardments followed, targeting primarily hostile counties and destroying medical facilities, markets, and homes, displacing hundreds of thousands.

In December 2025, after government attempts to divide Nuer groups through political appointments, opposition forces overran military garrisons in Jonglei. In January 2026, the government launched a counteroffensive named Operation Enduring Peace.

Before the counteroffensive, Johnson Olonyi, leader of the Agwelek and a general in the South Sudanese army (SSPDF), instructed his troops not to spare elderly people, chickens, houses, or anything. Government spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny described Olonyi's comments as a slip of the tongue not reflecting government policy.

Reports indicate that in Akobo, an opposition stronghold in Jonglei, fighters loyal to the regime razed villages, killed inhabitants, and destroyed water sources. The South Sudanese army controls most major towns, while opposition forces hold rural areas.

Aid workers, UN officials, and diplomats reported that the government has denied humanitarian access to rebel-held areas and directed organizations to relocate to government-controlled territory. This has led to a crisis in a 40-kilometer stretch of opposition-held territory in southeast Nasir County, Upper Nile, where international aid groups have not delivered food for over a year.

Government airstrikes and fighting in Nasir have displaced tens of thousands to informal sites along the Sobat River. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warned in November 2025 that the county faced famine risk, including over 16,000 people at imminent risk of starvation.

In January 2026, the government ordered aid groups to leave three opposition-held counties in northern Jonglei. In March 2026, Médecins Sans Frontières reported that the government prevented their staff from reaching Nyatim village, where dozens of displaced civilians died from starvation or disease.

Humanitarian actors noted their dependence on government permissions limits their ability to demand access. In February 2026, in Pankor, the Agwelek militia targeted the Gawaar Nuer community, amid prior conflicts over humanitarian access and river checkpoints from 2022.

Local leaders had mobilized the community in 2022 to counter the Agwelek, citing needs for aid access and fees.