Sudan's Abyei in "bloodbath"

May 20, 2008 (Abyei NSV) - For the past three days, the disputed Ngok territory of Abyei has been undergoing what one official calls a “bloodbath.”

“The Misseriya, under the guidance of the Sudan Armed Forces came to Abyei and ransacked it completely,” said a New Sudan Vision reporter stationed around the area.

Last week, fight broke out in Dokura, an area about 12 miles outside of Abyei city, where remnants of southern militia and elements of Misseriya killed one person, an official from GoSS told The New Sudan Vision. “They retreated to Abyei [and] they were followed,” by the police, the source adds. However, “they were reinforced by Battalion 31,” of the Sudan Armed Forces. The official said the battalion started bombarding and shelling the area “indiscriminately,” and the SPLA was instructed not to fire back.

“The police continued to keep cover of the citizens. They managed to evacuate all the citizens of the city.” The Joint Integrated Unity (JIH), which was delegated to quell such crisis dispersed, each returning to its mother unit, the source said.

According to the CPA, all militias should have been absorbed to SPLA or SAF. Many of the southern Sudanese militias joined the SPLA and others, like the ones destabilizing Abyei, are accommodated and armed by the SAF, says the official. They missed a deadline to withdraw from Abyei by July of 2007.

In an attempt to calm down the escalation, Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr. Luka Biong, MP for Abyei, SSLA, Deng Arop and SPLM Administrator for Abyei, Edward Lino, accompanied by SPLA, flew to Agok in Abyei on a special plane, but their mission “made no headway,” the official said.
“Meanwhile the situation remains very precarious.”