Several dozen people have been killed in an outbreak of intercommunal violence in a disputed oil region in South Sudan, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and a local official said on Wednesday.
According to OCHA, the fighting in the border and oil region of Abyei, disputed between Sudan and South Sudan, left 36 dead as of March 6, an unknown number of injured and 50,000 displaced.
“Intercommunal tensions have increased over the past few weeks in the Abyei Administrative Region (AAA), allegedly driven by long-standing territorial disputes, inter-tribal tensions and the desire for revenge,” OCHA writes.
The fighting in this region, which started on February 10, intensified in early March, according to OCHA, which adds that humanitarian operations in areas affected by the fighting have been suspended and that humanitarian workers have been relocated to secure places.
Abyei, caught between Sudan and the young South Sudan, has been a source of great tension between the two countries since the independence of South Sudan in July 2011. The latter separated from its northern neighbor in 2011 following a peace treaty that ended 22 years of civil war.
The area has also long experienced tensions between the Ngok Dinka community and Misseriya herders who pass through the area in search of pasture.
AAA spokesman Ajak Deng said two deadly attacks were carried out over the weekend by Misseriya herders and members of the Sudanese Armed Forces armed with heavy weapons.
He added that 6 people were killed on Saturday, and another 27 on Sunday, adding that the situation remained tense and residents were still living in fear.
US embassies in Juba and Khartoum have expressed “great concern” over the escalation of violence in the region. “We call on all parties to cease retaliation and resume dialogue,” the statement read.
Abyei has been under UN protection since South Sudan’s independence. The United Nations Interim Force deployed there has also called for an end to the violence.