UN peacekeeper among 52 killed in communal clashes in Sudan-South Sudan's disputed Abyei region

By Benjamin Takpiny

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) – A tense calm prevailed on Monday amid a night curfew in the Abyei Administrative Area, situated between Sudan and South Sudan, following deadly clashes on Saturday that killed 52 people, including a UN peacekeeper from Ghana, and injured 65 others, said a senior government official.

Abyei Administrative Area’s Information Minister Bulis Koch confirmed to Anadolu that 52 people were killed, mostly women and children, and 65 others wounded during Saturday clashes that began with attacks by armed youth from neighboring Warrap State of South Sudan.

“The authorities have imposed a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. to give security organs time to provide more protection to the civil population and identify those who might be carrying out more attacks,” Koch told Anadolu by the phone from Abyei.

"Twic armed youth in collaboration with the Nuer spiritual leader Gai Machiek attacked Nyinkuac market in Abyei town where 16 innocent civilians were killed and 35 others wounded," the official said.

Another 13 internally displaced people from Abyei were killed when armed Twic youth ambushed a vehicle transporting them from Biemnhom to the Rumamer area of Abyei in Kolngolnyang, he said, adding that in total 52 people were killed in the clashes.

The oil-rich Abyei Administrative Area is jointly administered by South Sudan and Sudan, with both claiming stakes and having been embroiled in conflict for several years.

The minister said there is no longer any fighting in the area, but people remain fearful because the attackers are still hiding in nearby bushes.

The area is nearly deserted, with people seeking refuge at the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) compound for protection, he added.

The incident sparked panic among residents of Twic County in the Warrap State of South Sudan, and the Abyei Administrative Area.

Meanwhile, the UNISFA has condemned the series of armed attacks in Abyei on Saturday, which resulted in civilian casualties and the death of a UN peacekeeper from Ghana.

“The Mission confirms that the inter-communal clashes that took place in the Nyinkuac, Majbong and Khadian areas led to casualties and the evacuation of civilians to UNISFA bases to provide safety for those caught up in the violence. Efforts are underway to verify the number of those killed, injured, and displaced in the violence” UNISFA said in a statement.

Separately, Twic County Commissioner Simon Aguek Chan denied in a statement that Twic youth were involved in the attack.

“The fighting erupted within Abyei town between Abyei armed youth and Nuer armed youth who are staying within Abyei and we don’t have people there, our youth cannot reach there, all those allegations leveled against Twic youth are not true,” Aguek said.

He claimed that the Abyei armed youth disagreed with the Nuer armed who had been staying with them in Abyei.

In November of last year, 32 people were killed in deadly communal fighting between the two groups.

Earlier in Feb. 2022, fighting broke out at Aneet Market in the Abyei Administrative Area over land ownership between the Twic and Ngok communities of Abyei.