Aid agencies distributed humanitarian aid to thousands of Abyei attack survivors after a rapid interagency assessment conducted last week.

Last Wednesday, at least 32 civilians, including children were killed in an attack on the general area of Kolom, about nine kilometres north-west of Abyei town.

Abyei authorities said the attack wounded at least 24 others, while 15 children were abducted and 22 houses were set ablaze. The armed attack was reportedly perpetrated by a large number of Misseriya armed men.

In a statement extended to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said seventy households in Abyei town were provided with immediate humanitarian assistance, such as blankets, bed sheets and sleeping mats, jerricans, soap, plastic tarpaulins and rubber ropes for constructing temporary shelters.  

However, IOM further said there are roughly 3,600 people at five other locations in Abyei town who still require urgent assistance.

“With support from the Core Pipeline Unit, IOM South Sudan’s central repository of relief supplies, more relief items including mosquito nets and solar lamps are being sent from Juba to Abyei by air and road this week,” read the statement.

IOM added that it is also coordinating water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) assistance and started the construction of emergency latrines at Abyei boys secondary school where the majority of an estimated 230 households from Kolom are sheltering.

“In situations like these, we know that people flee in different directions,” said Asar Ul Haq, IOM South Sudan Programme Coordinator. “So far, our immediate response has only reached families displaced in Abyei centre, but we intend to support all households affected by this tragedy and the findings from the joint assessment will shed light on what help is needed, and where.” 

Due to long standing tensions, violent clashes between the agro-pastoralist Ngok Dinka and the nomadic cattle herding Misseryia, whose seasonal grazing routes run through Abyei, have led to several waves of displacement of the Ngok Dinka community and the destruction of public infrastructure.  

“The recent attacks cast a dark cloud over efforts to hold a cattle migration conference intended to search for common ground for the amicable co-existence of the Misseriya and Ngok-Dinka, and to find solutions to mitigate fighting over the migration corridor and cattle raiding,” said Jean-Philippe Chauzy, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Chief of Mission in South Sudan.