UN Condemns Peacekeepers and Civilians Killing in Abyei

Agencies – Sudan Events

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has condemned the violence that broke out in the Abyei Administrative Region and the attacks against the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), which resulted in the killing of two peacekeepers, from Ghana and Pakistan, and stressed that such attacks “may constitute war crimes.”
In a statement attributed to his spokesman, on Monday, Guterres expressed deep concern about the violence that occurred in the region on Saturday and Sunday – which tragically killed a number of civilians – and the attacks on the UNISFA force.
He expressed his sincere condolences to the governments and people of Ghana and Pakistan, and to the families of the civilians who died.
Guterres called on the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to urgently investigate the attacks, with the assistance of UNISFA, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
A local official revealed that gunmen attacked the Abyei area, killing 52 people, including two soldiers from the United Nations peacekeeping forces, and wounding 64 others.
He stated that the attackers were young men from one of the local tribes from the neighboring Warrap area, and that members of this tribe have long been in dispute over lands in Abyei with another tribe.