By Patrick Nimisi –
At least 27 people were killed Sunday evening in fresh attacks in Abyei, the disputed administrative area bordering Sudan and South Sudan, area spokesperson Deng Ajak said.
Mr Ajak told The EastAfrican that armed people attacked two areas on Sunday afternoon.
“This is the second attack, another attack happened on Saturday, but the tragic one was the Sunday one when armed men, with others riding horses, attacked Mading-Thon and Kuol-Bol areas on the western side of the Abyei, an attack that killed many.
“The area is a hard situation to describe. Those killed were twenty-seven and with four others badly injured. Most of those killed were the elderly people,” Mr Ajak said.
He urged the United Nations Interim Force for Abyei (UNISFA) to protect civilians in the area.
Efforts to get comment for Sudan to comment were successful.
In May 2021, South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit formed a committee to dialogue with Sudan over the disputed Abyei area.
In Kiir’s committee was his National Security Affairs Advisor Tut Gatluak, deputised by East African Affairs Minister Deng Alor Kuol who is an Abyei native, and three other members from the National Legislative Assembly.
Kiir’s forming of the committee came a week after an attack on civilian Dunguop village of Abyei town that left at least 11 people dead and seven others injured.
However, no findings have been made public contrary despite the group being tasked to provide a monthly progress update.