[4] Throughout the battle comparisons were made to the Bor massacre of 1991, during the Second Sudanese Civil War, in which Nuer forces under Riek Machar killed an estimated 2,000 Dinka.

On December 18, 2013, at 02:30, around 2,000 soldiers under Peter Gadet, the commander of the 8th Division, a primarily Nuer unit, defected and launched a surprise attack with tanks, rockets, mortars, and artillery on the Panpandiar and Malual-Chaat military camps outside Bor, overrunning them by around 05:00.

[8][9] On December 21, gunfire hit two US military airplanes attempting to evacuate American citizens from South Sudan, wounding four servicemen and forcing the planes to turn back.

[12][13] On December 24, the SPLA declared victory after taking Panpandiar and Malual-Chaat and then most of the city as Gadet's troops made an orderly retreat,[6] but fighting continued near the airport.

[6] On January 4, while moving from Juba to the frontline in the town of Pariak, south of Bor, two groups of SPLA troops were ambushed, suffering heavy losses, including the death of Brigadier General Abraham Jongroor Deng.