The driver of a commercial vehicle was killed and several passengers were injured when they were ambushed in the disputed region of Abyei over the weekend.
The Paramount Chief of Abyei, Bulabek Deng Kuol, told Radio Tamazuj that the vehicle was heading to the main Amiet market of Abyei town when they were attacked by gunmen.
“It was not an attack on an area but an ambush by armed men on a vehicle that was going to the market in Abyei town,” Chief Deng said. “It was a commercial vehicle and the driver had his family, his wife, and daughter, and the rest were passengers. The driver was killed and his wife sustained injuries on the hand and the daughter and two other passengers were also injured.”
Asked who might have carried out the ambush, the paramount chief said, “Well, it is known that these are the militia of the Messiriya. Some suspects were arrested by UNISFA on that same day.”
Daniel Adekera, the spokesman for the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), confirmed the incident thus, “We confirm an attack by unidentified armed men on a pickup vehicle carrying some passengers to the Amiet market at around 9:30 am on Saturday 13 March 2021. The attack led to the death of one of the passengers while four others were wounded and are being treated in our Level two clinic.”
He said that when the UN troop combed the scene of the incident, they found six unarmed people who could not be identified with the incident other than the fact that they were found within the area where the shooting took place.
“The six have been arrested and are being interrogated to establish if they are linked to the incidence. Meanwhile, our tools are searching the area of the incident to find if perhaps the weapons used are hidden by the suspects arrested, only then can their culpability or otherwise be established,” Adekera said.
He said UNISFA will continue to respond promptly to any reported security incidence and act accordingly and called for cooperation from the communities in the Abyei area stressing that peace and security within the Abyei Area is a collective responsibility.