Africa-Press – South-Sudan. By James Atem Kuir
At least 27 people were killed and four others injured in a renewed attack on Abyei by Sudanese Misseriya Arab nomads Sunday, officials said.
Ajak Deng Miyan, Spokesperson of the Abyei Special Administrative Area, claimed attackers comprising of armed Misseriyamenand Sudan Armed Force (SAF) attacked two villages of Mading-Thon and Kol-Bol and attempted to invade Abyei town, the headquarters of the administrative area but were repulsed back.
MrMiyancondemned the raid by the Sudanese tribe on the disputed region and called on the United Nations peacekeeping force UNISFA to live up to its mandate of protecting civilians.
“In another escalation today, Sunday, March 6, 2022, at around 5:30 pm, a huge of number Misseriya militia and SAF, launched an attack from two directions; Mading-Thon Area and Kol-Bol in the western parts of Abyei Town, with the intention to enter Abyei Town from these directions but the attackers were bravely repulsed back to where they came from by the youth.
“In this attack, the area lost 27 persons while four were injured, it was really a tragical day in the history of our community,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement seen by Juba Monitor yesterday.
“The Abyei Area Administration condemns this escalation in the strongest terms possible, therefore calls upon the UNISFA once again to live up to it responsibilities and render effective protection to the civilians. Once again, our sincere and profound condolences to the families of the deceased ones, the NgokDinka Community and the entire South Sudanese people,”MrMiyan added.
The Misseriya nomads who transverse most of the disputed region for pasture and water during the dry season have been accused of perpetrating deadly attacks on the NgokDinka natives of Abyei over the years.
In January this year, Misseriya armed attacked Miodol, 29 kilometers north-east of Abyei Town and killed at least five people and injured another, according to the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA), the peacekeeping force established by the UN Security Council to protect the region following tension between South Sudan and Sudan over the oil-rich area.
The area has also seen increased violence as tension over a disputed territory culminated into classes between neighboring twin Communities of Warap State and the NgokDinka.
The fighting last month, claimed lives of some 20 people according to OCHA and displaced 70,000 people, prompting President Salva Kiir Mayardit to set a committee to probe the cause of the clashes.
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