Spanish
At least twelve people died and twenty-three others were injured after fighters loyal to the suspended vice president and opposition leader Riek Machar deserted a peacekeeping mission dominated by pro-government troops in the disputed Abyei region with Sudan and neighboring areas, a local commander told EFE this Tuesday.
“So far, we have confirmed twelve deaths and twenty-three injuries, but the figure could increase, as the situation remains unstable,” Colonel Manyang Bol Chol, head of the Army in the town of Athony, in the disputed Abyei region, between Sudan and South Sudan, told EFE.
According to the official, some 280 members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) were part of a joint security force deployed last year to contain tribal clashes between the Twic and Ngok communities, which left nearly a hundred dead last year.
Abyei is an area of great oil wealth that has a special administrative status, which in practical terms makes it a condominium between Sudan and South Sudan, pending an agreement that defines the final border between both countries, which is far from happening.
"The withdrawal of those troops, which had been sent to maintain peace and protect civilians after last year's fighting, has now created a security vacuum in Abyei and neighboring regions," warned Manyang.
The soldiers who deserted, he added, would have moved towards Unity state to join the main forces of the opposition group, following the SPLM-IO's call last month to resist the arrest and trial of Machar and seven other opposition leaders, accused of crimes ranging from murder, conspiracy and terrorism to treason and crimes against humanity.
The accusation links Machar to the attacks perpetrated between March 3 and 7 by the opposition militia White Army against the Nasir barracks, in the north of the country, in which more than 250 soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir died, in addition to a high commander and a United Nations pilot who was participating in evacuation tasks.
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Machar had been serving since 2020 and until his suspension on September 11th as vice president and leader of the opposition, under the 2018 peace agreement that ended five years of civil war. The pact provided for a power-sharing arrangement and the creation of a unified army between the government and the opposition, commitments that have not yet been fulfilled. Violence has escalated this year in South Sudan, with at least 1,854 civilians killed between January and September, 59% more than in the same period of 2024, according to the UN Human Rights Office.
