The 2009 Sobat River ambush was a battle between Jikany Nuer tribesmen and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) which was escorting a United Nations (UN) aid convoy on 12 June 2009.

The UN convoy consisted of 27 barges travelling on the Sobat River from Nasir to Akobo, in Southern Sudan near the border with Ethiopia.

[3][4] The convoy was operating under the auspices of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and was to have helped support around 18,000 of the 135,000 people displaced by recent tribal fighting which claimed hundreds of lives.

[1] There is fear of renewed fighting in the area, following the recent end of the Second Sudanese Civil War and the upcoming 2010 national elections and 2011 referendum on independence for Southern Sudan.

[1][2] Clashes between rival tribes and ethnic groupings are common in Southern Sudan and usually occur over cattle or access to natural resources.