At least 54 dead after attacks in disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan

“Armed youths” from the Twic tribe carried out several attacks, which also left 64 seriously injured.

At least 52 civilians and two peacekeepers were killed in several attacks on Saturday January 27 and Sunday January 28 in the Abyei region, a disputed oil-rich border zone between Sudan and South Sudan, the UN deplored Monday January 29. Moreover, “64 others would be seriously injured”deplored the United Nations Interim Force (FISNUA) in a statement, saying “concerned by the continuation of intercommunity clashes”.

The UN force has “strongly condemned these attacks against civilians and peacekeepers”. She recalls that “violence against peacekeepers may constitute a war crime under international law”.

A region crossed by ethnic tensions

Clashes are regular in Abyei, whose status has not been resolved since the independence of South Sudan in 2011, and which is placed under UN protection. According to the Abyei Administrative Authority (AAA), “armed young people” of the Twic tribe (belonging to the Dinkas, the largest ethnic group in the country) from the South Sudanese state and rebels carried out several attacks on Saturday. At least one of them targeted Ngok, another branch of the Dinka living in Abyei, according to AAA.

The region is also regularly bereaved by tensions between the Ngok and the Misseriya herders, who cross the region in search of pasture. Clashes notably left several dozen dead in March 2022.

A conflict between the Twic and Ngok tribes began in 2022 over land claims in an area on the border of Abyei Territory and Warrap State. In November, at least 32 people were killed in clashes between the two groups. Earlier in January, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir called for a ceasefire.