A United Nations peacekeeper from Ghana has been killed during Saturday violent clashes between rival local groups in the disputed Abyei region on South Sudan’s border with Sudan, a UN statement has said.
The Ghanaian peacekeeper was killed alongside some civilians when the mission tried to evacuate persons caught in the middle of clashes to its bases for safety.
“The UNISFA base in Agok came under attack by an armed group. The mission repelled the attack, but tragically a Ghanaian peacekeeper was killed during the incident. The mission strongly condemns the violence and extends its profound condolences to the families of the civilians who lost their lives as well as the fallen peacekeeper, who gave his life in the service of the people of Abyei,” UNISFA said in its statement.
The oil-rich Abyei region has been a focal point of violence since 2011, as inter-communal parties fight over the location of an administrative boundary.
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Although the motive for Saturday’s attack hasn’t been communicated formally, it is suspected to revolve around a land dispute among the rival factions of the Dinka ethnic group.
