The Abyei branch of South Sudan’s ruling party strongly condemned the decline in the security situation in Abyei yesterday, laying the blame on Khartoum.
Wour Majak Akol, SPLM spokesman in the disputed oil-rich region on the border with Sudan made this claim in a press statement yesterday referring to the political and security situation in addition to an increase in robbery and killing carried out by, what he claimed, are Misseriya militias.
The statement also accused the forces from UN’s Abyei mission, UNISFA, of failing in their mandate to protect civilians and their property in the region.
He claimed that militias loyal to the Khartoum government have deployed along eastern, western and northern borders with Abyei, adding that this represents a weakness in the stability of the region.
Akol concluded by voicing the SPLM’s support of the head of the African Union mediators, Thabo Mbeki’s, proposal to holding a referendum on the future of Abyei in October this year, if no other solution is found.
Photo by Radio Tamazuj: A main street of Abyei town at dusk