JUBA, March 9 — Death toll from inter-communal violence in the Abyei Administrative Area (AAA) along the border between South Sudan and Sudan has claimed 36 lives, the United Nations relief agency said on Wednesday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said the violence allegedly driven by long-standing territorial disputes, inter-tribal tensions, and revenge-seeking intensified since March 5 and has left an unknown number of people injured.
“Public and private infrastructure has been destroyed in the Agok general area. More than 750 aid workers, national and international, relocated with their families from Agok and Juljok to various locations, including Abyei town and South Sudan,” OCHA said in its Flash Update.
According to the UN, fighting has been ongoing in the Abyei area since Feb. 10 with reports of civilians killed and wounded.
It said more than 50,000 people are reportedly displaced since Feb. 10 but numbers are yet to be verified, noting that the majority of people fled to Abyei town, while others sought refuge in areas further south, with more than 20,400 people registered in Twic County in Warrap State.
The UN said fighting broke out on Feb. 10 between the communities in Abyei and Twic County of Warrap State in Anet settlement and extended to other locations including the Juljok settlement and Agok town.
It said the fighting intensified on March 5 and has since claimed 36 lives and several injuries.
The UN said humanitarian operations in the affected areas have been put on pause.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir has formed a committee to investigate the root cause of the conflict between the two communities. (Xinhua)
