UNISFA A medical member of the UNISFA Pakistan Battalion provides treatment and medicines to the local community in Um Khae, Abyei (file)
Continuing intercommunal clashes in the disputed Abyei region between Sudan and South Sudan have left more than 50 people dead including two peacekeepers, the UN said on Monday.
Armed youth from rival factions of the Dinka ethnic group have been battling over the location of an administrative boundary in the oil-rich region, claimed by both countries, according to media reports.
The UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) reported that clashes erupted on Saturday in the Nyinkuac, Majbong and Khadian areas, leading to casualties and the evacuation of civilians to its bases.
Refuge from violence
UNISFA is engaging with local authorities to verify the numbers of those killed, injured and displaced, noting that 52 civilians have lost their lives while 64 others are said to be gravely wounded.
The Mission has allowed all persons in imminent threat of danger to seek refuge in some of its camps, in line with its mandate to protect civilians.
Peacekeepers under attack
On Sunday, peacekeepers were transporting affected civilians from a UNISFA base to a hospital when they came under heavy fire. A peacekeeper from Pakistan was killed, and four uniformed personnel and a local civilian were injured.
The incident happened one day after the Mission repelled an attack on the UNISFA base in Agok during which a Ghanaian peacekeeper was killed, prompting it to call for “a swift and thorough investigation”.
UNIFSA issued a statement on Monday strongly condemning the attacks against civilians and peacekeepers, stating that violence against “blue helmets” may constitute a war crime under international law.
Call for investigation
“The Mission is making every effort to restore calm, including proactively and robustly protecting civilians, and reiterates its call for a swift investigation so that perpetrators can be held accountable,” according to a statement.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is deeply concerned about the violence that occurred in Abyei over the weekend, his spokesperson said in a statement later on Monday.
“The Secretary-General condemns the violence and attacks against UNISFA and calls on the Governments of South Sudan and Sudan to swiftly investigate the attacks, with the assistance of UNISFA, and bring the perpetrators to justice,” it said.
Mr. Guterres conveyed his deepest condolences to the Government and people of Ghana and Pakistan and to the families of the deceased civilians.
UN in Abyei
UNISFA was established by the UN Security Council in June 2011 in response to renewed violence, escalating tensions and population displacement in the Abyei region, as southern Sudan was preparing to formally declare independence from Sudan the following month.
The weeks prior to the Council decision were marked by deadly clashes that forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes.
The war between rival military forces in Sudan has compounded the challenges in Abyei, according to senior UN officials who briefed the Council last November.
They said the conflict has interrupted encouraging signs of dialogue between Sudan and South Sudan and talks over the disputed region have effectively been put on hold.
View original: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/01/1146007
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From AFP News via The Barron’s Daily
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Dated Sunday, 4 February 2024 - here is a copy in full:
Inter-Sudanese Clashes Leave 19 Dead Over Weekend
Nineteen people, one of them a humanitarian worker, were killed in ethnic clashes over the weekend in the Abyei region straddling the border between Sudan and South Sudan and claimed by both, local authorities said.
Violence between the two countries is common in the oil-rich territory, with 54 people killed last week alone, including two UN peacekeepers.
Another 64 people were injured in fighting last week between two tribes of the main ethnic Dinka -- the Abyei-based Ngok and their Twic rivals from the neighbouring southern state of Warrap.
Both sides have sought to press their own claim since the South gained independence in 2011, whereupon the area was placed under UN protection.
"The attacks on civilians culminated in the loss of life, setting the market ablaze, property looting and raiding livestock," the Abyei Administrative Authority (AAA ) said.
The AAA said the fighting over the weekend "contravenes the presidential order that calls for a peaceful settlement of the communal conflict between Ngok Dinka and Twic of the Warrap State."
The Authority stated one person was killed and another three abducted on Saturday.
It said that on Sunday 18 people, including "four women and three children, as a well as a humanitarian aid worker from Doctors without Borders," were killed in another attack by Twic youths and armed militiamen.
The conflict between the tribes began in 2022 over land claims in an area located on the southern edge of Abyei and the state of Warrap.
In January, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir called for a ceasefire, months after at least 32 people were killed in November clashes between the two groups.
str-sva/cw/gv The Barron's news department was not involved in the creation of the content above. This article was produced by AFP. For more information go to AFP.com. © Agence France-Presse
Source: https://www.barrons.com/news/inter-sudanese-clashes-leave-19-dead-over-weekend-2c5e69fd
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From Associated Press (AP)
By Deng Machol
Dated Monday, 5 February 2024, 12:43 am GMT - here is a copy in full:
37 people killed in disputed oil-rich African region of Abyei in fighting linked to spiritual leader
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Thirty-seven people were killed over the weekend in fighting apparently tied to a land feud in the disputed oil-rich region of Abyei, an official said Sunday. The bloodshed came a week after 52 people died in a land dispute in the same region.
Information Minister Bolis Koch in Abyei, which is claimed by South Sudan and Sudan, said the fighting erupted in Rum-Ameer, Alal and Mijak counties with an attack by armed youth from South Sudan's Warrap state who were backed by fighters loyal to spiritual leader Gai Machiek from the country's Unity state.
Koch said the fighting left 19 people dead and 18 injured Saturday and claimed the lives of 18 more people Sunday, including four women and three children. He said 1,000 head of cattle also were stolen.
“The Abyei Special Administrative Area strongly condemns the terrorist attacks, the heinous killings of innocent civilians, the burning of local markets and residential areas,” Koch said in a statement.
Ethnic violence has been common in the region, where Twic Dinka tribal members from Warrap are contesting for land with Ngok Dinka people in Abyei's Aneet area, located at the border.
Although land is seen as the major driver of the conflict, officials allege the armed Twic young people are being incited by Machiek, an ethnic Neur spiritual leader who has been accused of formenting conflict. He also was blamed for the attack a week ago that killed 53 people, including two U.N. peacekeepers.
Machiek has denied any wrongdoing in interviews with local media.
Sudan and South Sudan have disagreed over control of the Abyei region since a 2005 peace deal ended decades of civil war between Sudan’s north and south. Abyei's status was unresolved after South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011, though it is under control of South Sudan.
The region’s majority Ngok Dinka people favor South Sudan, while the Misseriya nomads who come to Abyei to find pasture for their cattle favor Sudan. An African Union panel proposed a referendum for Abyei but there was disagreement over who could vote.
View original: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/37-people-killed-disputed-oil-004350997.html
