The authorities in Twic County, Warrap State, and the Abyei Administrative Area have traded accusations over which youths instigated attacks in both areas which left four dead and another four injured on Monday.
The executive director of Twic County, Joseph Taban Agany, faulted youths from Abyei for attacking the villages of Athony, Madou and Kilo 27 on Monday which he said left one person dead, and two others injured and many households displaced.
“Nobody went to their (Abyei) places. The armed Abyei youth attacked Athony, Kilo 27, and Madou near Nyin-Deng –Ayuel. We have lost one man and two other men were also injured in Athony,” he said. “They burned all these villages and have caused huge displacement. I went to visit IDPs on Monday evening in Nyin-Deng-Ayuel but the situation was horrible.”
Agany said he did not know the motive of the attack and denied that youth from his county attacked villages in Abyei. He said the wounded were taken to Mayen Abun hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, Ajang Deng Miyen, Abyei’s information minister, said two villages in his area were attacked by Twic youth who killed three people and wounded two others.
“Twic armed youth attacked Malual Aleu and Kadiang and they were repulsed. In the process, they killed two women, burnt one man to death in a hut, and two other men were wounded,” he said.
The inter-communal conflict between the Twic community and Ngok Dinka of Abyei started in March when the former attacked Aneet market killing many people and setting the market ablaze.
As the conflict escalated, President Salva Kiir formed an investigative and fact-finding committee headed by Vice President Hussein Abdalbahgi. The committee started work in Twic County and later moved to Abyei and the two warring communities reached cessation of hostilities agreement which was signed in Aweil on 5 May 2022.