Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A man and a woman are currently fighting for their lives in the hospital with serious injuries following a car ambush in Abyei Administrative Area on Tuesday.
Abyei Administrative Area spokesperson, Ajak Deng Miyan, stated in a press release yesterday that the attackers were members of the Agaira Misseriya militia, who attacked a Toyota pickup truck at around 9:20 AM as it was traveling from Dokura to Amiet market, which is about 0.5 kilometres from the market.
Deng said that those injured were receiving medical attention at a hospital. He termed the incident regrettable.
“The Abyei Administrative Area condemns this barbaric attack in the strongest terms possible and calls upon UNISFA Indian forces in the area where the incident took place [to provide security],” the statement read.
Conflicts between Sudanese and South Sudanese communities have always been fueled via the volatile Abyei area. Since 2011, there have been numerous clashes between pastoralists from Misseriya and members of the Ngok Dinka community over access to water and grazing land.
At least 27 individuals were reportedly killed and four others were injured in an armed attack in Abyei on March 6, 2022. Additional attacks resembling this one were reportedly planned in the following weeks.
An armed Misseriya group attacked the Ngok Dinka village of Miodol in January this year, 29 kilometres north-east of Abyei town, killing five people and injuring one more.
One member of the Misseriya armed group also died in the process. According to a report by the United Nations Interim Security Forces for Abyei, his body was discovered in the Hadid area, around 8 kilometres from the scene of the incident.
“The attack was planned by some 70 well-armed herders from the Misseriya hamlet, but it was successfully put down thanks to the alertness and quick reactions of UNISFA soldiers on the ground,’’ UNISFA stated in the report.
UNISFA troops conducted a comprehensive search that resulted in the capture of 11 well-armed herders who were hiding in the nearby areas, the reports further stated.
From the alleged perpetrators, a total of 06 AK-47s and 3 machine guns were retrieved. In Shegeg’s northern section, two more suspects were captured by UNISFA forces who were patrolling the area to locate the remaining attackers and prevent further attacks.
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