A clash between rival local groups in the Abyei region on South Sudan’s border with Sudan has resulted in the death of a Ghanaian United Nations peacekeeper and other civilians a U.N. statement said.
A statement by the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) revealed that the clashes occurred in three locations in the Abyei area on Saturday.
This led to casualties and the evacuation of civilians to UNISFA bases to provide safety for those caught up in the violence.
A UNISFA base came under attack in the event of the fighting. However, the attack was repelled “tragically a Ghanaian peacekeeper was killed during the incident,”
The number of people killed, injured and displaced by the violence are yet to be ascertained.the statement added
Meanwhile,Clashes between different communities are common in South Sudan, which is still reeling from years of a devastating war that pitted the country’s leader, Salva Kiir, against his former deputy, Riek Machar, in a battle between rival tribes.
The U.N. statement did not say which tribes were involved in Saturday clashes.
The Abyei region, rich in oil resources, experiences frequent bouts of violence. Rival factions of the Dinka ethnic group are locked in a dispute over the location of an administrative boundary.
The ownership of Abyei itself is disputed between Sudan and South Sudan, which declared independence from Sudan in 2011.
