Abyei’s Minister of Information said that four suspected armed youth from Twic County in Warrap State were killed, and one local youth from Abyei was seriously injured during an attempted cattle raid in the village of Wunruop over the weekend.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, Minister Bol Koch said: “The armed group of Warrap youth attempted to raid cattle in Wunruop village, located on the western side of Abyei. They arrived at 6:30 am local time and stole numerous heads of cattle, heading towards Warrap State. The local youth of Abyei pursued them until they clashed at Jak Deng Makuei village, resulting in the death of four attackers and one person from the Abyei youth sustaining serious injuries. The injured person has been admitted to the MSF health centre.”

Koch added that the local youth successfully recovered all the stolen cattle and returned them to their rightful owners. He assured the public that the security situation is normal, aside from this unexpected attack by the youth.

For his part, Mangok Kom, the acting commissioner of Twic County, dismissed the allegations, claiming that there are multiple armed groups operating in the region.

“It is difficult to determine who is telling the truth because the people of Abyei have provided shelter to Nuer militias to fight against the Twic people. Armed youth from Mayom have infiltrated Abyei through the Ruweng route,” Mangok asserted.

“Southern River Kiir belongs to South Sudan, and the Abyei File is with Deng Alor, just like Southern Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain have their special status. Therefore, it is false to claim that armed youth from Twic escaped or infiltrated Abyei. The area south of River Kiir belongs to South Sudan, particularly Twic County,” he affirmed.

The conflict between the Ngok Dinka of Abyei and the Twic community of Warrap State has been ongoing for nearly two years. It began in February 2022 when the Aneet area was surveyed by the authorities of Abyei’s Administrative Area, leading to a dispute with the Twic community. This disagreement resulted in fighting between armed youth from Twic and Abyei, which escalated to the point of setting the Aneet Market on fire.

In an effort to end the violence, President Kiir formed a high-level community committee led by Hussien Abdelbagi Akol, the Vice President of the Services Cluster, to investigate the root causes of the conflict between the two communities. A fragile peace agreement was signed in Aweil town of Northern Bahr El Ghazal State, but unfortunately, both sides failed to honour it.

President Kiir Mayardit personally intervened by summoning the chiefs of Twic and Abyei to his home village of AKuac. He urged the two communities to maintain peaceful relations, cease hostilities, and allow the free movement of people and goods along the border.

Following the President’s call, another peace talk was convened in Wau, Western Bahr El Ghazal State, but it also ended without achieving the desired result.