Hundreds of residents in Aweil North County of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State staged peaceful protests on Wednesday morning demanding the withdrawal of the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA) from Aweil North.
The protestors gave UNISFA 72 hours to evacuate from their areas. UNISFA is currently deployed along the disputed zones of Abyei, Kiir Adem in Aweil North among others.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj amidst the protests, Peter Atak Noon, a community leader in Aweil North County accused UNISFA of illegally annexing Gokmachar and Kiir Adem areas to Sudan.
“Gokmachar and Kiir Adem areas are well known in history, they are not new even they existed before my father was born,’’ said Noon.
Another demonstrator, James Khon Khon said they handed a petition to UNISFA commander in Aweil North demanding their withdrawal.
“Our position today as citizens in Gokmachar, we are demanding the withdrawal of the UNISFA from the area to Abyei. This is our current demand. One of the reasons that forced us to expel them is that the UNISFA said Gokmachar falls in the so-called Mile 14 and that means it is part of Sudan and for that reason, we the citizens of the area don’t accept that move because it is part of South Sudan,’’ he announced.
Aweil North County police inspector Brigadier General Mabior Deng Deng said the police were deployed to monitor the protests but some rowdy citizens jumped into the UNISFA compound and destroyed property.
"There were peaceful demonstrations organized by the citizens this morning and I tasked the police to accompany them. When they arrived at the UN compound, some citizens sneaked into the compound and broke the windows of some offices and smashed glasses from two vehicles until they were dispersed by their colleagues and people calmed down and speeches were concluded in front of the UNISFA compound,” Deng said.